Maimonides Park

Maimonides Park is a special baseball stadium on the Riegelmann Boardwalk in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City. It is best known as the home of the Brooklyn Cyclones, a team linked to the New York Mets that plays in the South Atlantic League. Though made for baseball, the stadium has hosted other sports too. The NYU Violets baseball team played there from 2015 to 2021, and since 2024, the women's team of Brooklyn FC has played soccer there, with the men's team joining in 2026.

The stadium can seat up to 7,000 people, plus about 2,500 standing-room tickets. Before 2016, it could hold even more. The stadium looks like an amusement park, with colorful lights and special food areas. From the seats, you can see the Atlantic Ocean and famous Coney Island spots like the Parachute Jump, the Wonder Wheel, and the Coney Island Cyclone nearby.

Site

Maimonides Park is built where an old amusement park called Steeplechase Park used to be. That amusement park closed in 1964 because the area of Coney Island was having hard times. Today, you can get to Maimonides Park using the New York City Subway at the Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue station. The station has several trains, including the D, F, N, and Q lines.

History

The stadium opened in 2001 as KeySpan Park. It had space for 6,500 fans. It brought professional baseball back to Brooklyn for the first time since the Brooklyn Dodgers left in 1957. The Brooklyn Cyclones, a team connected to the New York Mets, played there.

In 2012, Hurricane Sandy damaged the stadium. The grass field was replaced with artificial turf before the next season. The stadium has had different names over the years because of deals with sponsors. It was first called KeySpan Park, then MCU Park, and now it is called Maimonides Park.

Policies

Maimonides Park has a rule that fans cannot bring outside food into the stadium. This rule is used in all minor league stadiums, but it does not apply at Citi Field and Yankee Stadium because they are major league stadiums.

Baseball

In 2005 and 2014, MCU Park hosted the New York–Penn League All-Star Game.

In early 2015, the New York University Violets started playing at Maimonides Park. This caused the St. Joseph's College Bears to move to a different place. Baruch College and some high school teams also play there.

After the 2015 season, some seats were taken away to make a picnic area.

Maimonides Park was used for a qualifying round of the 2017 World Baseball Classic in September 2016.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the park was used for training by the New York Mets.

The Brooklyn Cyclones stayed as a New York Mets team in the new High-A East league after Minor League Baseball changed its structure in 2020–21.

Other uses

Soccer

The New York Cosmos played their home games at Maimonides Park in 2017 and 2015. Later, Brooklyn FC planned to play there in 2025, but this moved to the 2026 USL Championship season. Their women's team began playing at the park in 2024.

Football

The Brooklyn Bolts used Maimonides Park for their home games in 2014 and 2015. The football field was set up in the outfield area.

Rugby

Rugby United New York played their first two seasons at Maimonides Park before moving to Cochrane Stadium in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Concerts

Many famous musicians have performed at Maimonides Park. In 2003, Björk gave two shows there. In 2004, the band Phish started their final tour with two nights at the park. Other performers include The White Stripes, Def Leppard, Bryan Adams, Daft Punk, and Wilco.

Wrestling

Maimonides Park has hosted wrestling events. In 2010, it held a large Total Nonstop Action Wrestling show. Ring of Honor Wrestling has also held events there several times.

Other

The park hosted the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Contest in 2021. In 2023, it held the first One Bite Pizza Festival, where over 35 pizza places shared their best pizzas.