Now that the Yankees have built a new stadium and three new parking garages at tremendous expense (not all of it theirs), what do they need? Fewer parking garages!

With the new ballfields intended to replace those bulldozed five years ago to make way for Yankee Stadium: The Next Generation finally nearing completion — look, you can even see them now on Google Maps! — it’s time to finally turn the page on the ugly battle over the park-stealing, $2.3 billion stadium project, right? Or it would be, if not for the fact that the convoluted financing of the stadium looks like it’s going to have repercussions into the second Baldwin administration.

In the latest twist, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., who’s largely stayed out of the Yankees fray — it was his predecessor, Adolfo Carrion, who lobbied heavily for the stadium and fired community board members who opposed him — yesterday released a “request for expressions of interest” for any developers who might want to build a conference center and hotel near the stadium site… [read more]