There are two discussions going on here, the realm of reality, and the realm of opinion. Let's talk about reality first.
Look, I've been at the effort to bring professional soccer to NYC for 7 years now. I'm not sure you guys have boned up on what's been going on, so here you go. So far, MLS, MCFC and the Yankees have been spectacularly unsuccessful in trying to get a stadium built in the city, and that was when Bloomberg was Mayor and Quinn was the City council speaker, to extremely business and real estate development friendly powerful politicians. MLS shelled out $1.7 million in lobbying fees in 2012 alone to get the right to build a soccer stadium in Flushing. They spent hundreds of thousands, if not millions more, on public relations, their Town Hall event (which none of you attended), and they got nothing to show for it. Zero.
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/da...ies-big-flushing-stadium-blog-entry-1.1693813
Next, this is New York City. Contrary to what you say, people don't "suddenly" care about human rights when a soccer team is involved. We have very active civil rights and human rights communities. Did you miss the millions who marched against the Iraq War? Occupy Wall Street? Do you realize that thousands of New Yorkers devote their professional lives to human rights issues like immigration, criminal justice, and, most relevantly, LGBT issues? After years of public pressure, the gay community finally got marriage equality in NY. There is a major international effort afoot, well supported by New Yorkers, to pressure Russia about its anti gay policies. It is disrespectful and just plain wrong to suggest that people only care now because of a soccer team. To pretend this all doesn't exist does not help your cause. And you have very recent history to help guide you. When Sheik Mansour was associated with the Flushing Stadium, Queens Councilman Danny Dromm came right out of the box opposing anything the shiek is associated with. I know Danny, he doesn't know the first thing about soccer. So no, this isn't just about soccer. Here's what he said at the time:
"This is outrageous. This is also a country where gay and lesbian people could be subject to chemical castration,” Dromm, an openly gay politician, said in the statement. “It is totally unacceptable. I urge my colleagues in the City Council and elected officials across the state to join me in saying that New Yorkers won’t do business with a murderous regime and we won’t sell, trade or give away our public assets to those who discriminate and participate in human rights abuses.:
http://www.timesledger.com/stories/2013/18/stadiumupdate_all_2013_05_01_q.html
Sheik Mansour is toxic for you guys. He's an albatross that you need to deal with.
You don't have to agree with any of this, but it's the reality you're dealing with. Period. How on Earth you think you will get a stadium built in NYC inside of 12 years, with a less friendly mayor and city council, and a more emboldened LGBT community is beyond me. And with no stadium plan remotely on the horizon, how do you make this work?
So here you guys are, arguing against Human Rights Watch, and calling everyone who opposes this project on principle as being motivated by sporting rivalry, when it's you guys running around implying that Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are patsies for Manchester United. Good luck with that.
On top of all this, you have to deal with the Public Relations debacle of Sheik Mansour and the richest sports club in the world, the New York Yankees, asking for NYC taxpayer handouts and a bailout of rich bondholders for the underutilized Yankee Stadium parking lots.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york...-offers-free-rent-arab-firm-article-1.1544173
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york...stadium-deal-200m-sheikdown-article-1.1567123
And no, unless you are planning to build a 75,000 seat stadium, there will be no world cup matches at your imaginary stadium. 40,000 is the FIFA minimum, but the US has proven no problem in selling out giant football stadiums.
As for the opinion realm, yes, the best thing for all of us to do is bring our economic lives to a grinding halt and stop using oil. But that's not realistic. It is nearly impossible to essentially just live your life without doing something that compromises the human rights of some other living being, one way or another. So we make choices about the reasonable things we do in life to assert our principles. For soccer fans who also happen to love human rights, it is a very easy choice to oppose Sheik Mansour and his sports teams. And believe me, I don't begrudge the Mancunian who was born and bred Man City for enjoying his success. But this is clearly not that.
Finally, if you guys are a supporters club, start acting like it. Has anyone contacted the NYCFC front office to ask them questions about the stadium? I have read some other threads and no one seems to know anything about what NYCFC plans to do. If you think that asking for public subsidies is a bad idea, have you told them that? And if they don't respond, is that a team you really want to support? Other MLS and NASL supporters groups have excellent relations and influence with the front office. Do you?
