Editorial: Let 'em strike!

It simply amazes us. Major League Baseball is out to get us again.

At the All-Star Game earlier this month, the buzz was not about the game but about the prospects of the players going on strike before the end of this season.

Greed is once again threatening America’s national pastime. The players are greedy, the owners are greedy and the league officials are greedy. This is not news to anybody and here it only serves to paint the background.

If the Major League Baseball Players Association wants to strike, we say, “LET ’EM STRIKE!” A strike would only help us here in Highbridge.

For starters, no Yankee games means no Yankee traffic. Jerome Avenue and 161st Street would open right up on weeknights. The parks at the foot of Ogden Avenue would be available to us again on Saturday afternoons.

No more excruciating traffic? Let ’em strike!

The Yankees have about 40 more games in Yankee Stadium this summer. The majority of those games will take place in the evening.

Do you remember a few weeks ago when it got so hot that Con Edison asked residents of most South Bronx neighborhoods to conserve power? Imagine how much power could be saved by turning off the dozens of monstrous floodlights that tower above Yankee Stadium.

No more summertime brownouts? Let ’em strike!

Yankee games bring no money – none, not a dime – to businesses in Highbridge. Yankee fans do not shop in our bodegas or eat in our restaurants. The only reason they cross Jerome Avenue is to find a parking spot that makes escaping the Bronx easier.

When politicians talk about the impact stadiums have on urban neighborhoods, they always talk about the revenue brought in with every game. Some of the bars and restaurants on 161st Street benefit from game-day business, but that’s not Highbridge. Have you ever tried going to McDonald’s within three hours of the start of a Yankee game? Forget it.

No more long lines at McDonald’s? Let ’em strike!

An early end to the season would also mean the city could get a jump on the annual winter reconstruction of Macombs Dam Bridge. Instead of waiting until October to close down the ramps to and from the Major Deegan, they could be closed in August. Construction would be finished in January and backups onto Jerome Avenue would be finished before the plows hit the streets.

The greatest irony of all is that we don’t even get to watch Yankee games on television since we don’t get the Y.E.S. Network on Cablevision!

There is no doubt that the greedy players and the greedy owners are holding the fans hostage. Their goal is to bleed us dry and as long as we mindlessly turn over the money we earn doing real work, we should continue to expect this behavior.

Unlike most fans, we are in the unique position of actually benefiting from a strike. Our neighbors in Concourse Village aren’t so lucky.

Nonetheless, here in Highbridge, we say, “let ’em strike!”