New York Attorney General Letitia James has filed a lawsuit temporarily blocking the sale of a ballpark in Freeport, Long Island. Cleveland Avenue Fields has been used by the Freeport school district as a practice field for 70 years and is also next to a low-income housing complex.
The Village of Freeport wants to sell the park for $49 million to developers hoping to build a package distribution warehouse.
The village said the sale will bring jobs and tax revenue. The village also offered use of Cow Meadow Park — about a mile and a half away.
However, the attorney general’s lawsuit claims the park is one of the few green spaces in a low-income community of color. The petition also said this part of Freeport is already in one of the worst areas in the state for environmental justice based on what the state calls health, social and environmental burdens.
