New York City Football Club installed the final steel beam at Etihad Park on March 25, completing the structural frame of what will be New York City’s first soccer-specific stadium. The topping-out ceremony in Willets Point, Queens, marked a milestone for a project that broke ground in December 2024 and is targeted to open for the 2027-28 MLS season.

The ceremony

A specially painted beam was hoisted onto the grandstand roof in front of club officials, labor leaders and city government. Among those who spoke were NYCFC Co-Vice Chairman Marty Edelman, NYCFC CEO Brad Sims, MLS Commissioner Don Garber, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. and Mayor Zohran Mamdani, alongside building-trades leaders including Gary LaBarbera of the Building and Construction Trades Council and Manny Pastreich of 32BJ SEIU.

“Today’s milestone is not just a marker of construction progress, it is the realization of a vision,” Edelman said. Chief operating officer Jen O’Sullivan said the structure remains on track to open as scheduled, noting the topping-out hit its date despite what she called an extraordinarily harsh winter.

What is being built

Etihad Park is a 25,000-seat stadium rising on a portion of the Willets Point redevelopment site, near Citi Field and the 7 train. NYCFC has described it as the first fully electric outdoor stadium in the country, built without on-site fossil-fuel combustion. The club has cited a projected building cost of roughly $780 million, privately financed rather than drawn from city capital funds — a structure city officials emphasized when the deal was approved.

The stadium is one piece of a broader transformation of Willets Point, long a district of auto-repair shops and unpaved streets. The same redevelopment includes thousands of units of affordable housing, the first phase of which was slated to open in 2026.

A delayed but on-schedule opening

NYCFC announced in February 2026 that the stadium’s debut would move to 2027 after MLS confirmed it would switch from a spring-to-fall calendar to the fall-to-spring schedule used by major international leagues. During the transition season, the club said it will continue to split home games between Yankee Stadium in the Bronx and Citi Field in Queens, the two borrowed venues it has used since entering the league in 2015. Construction, projected to run about 30 months, is expected to wrap in time for an August 2027 opening and the start of the 2027-28 season.

Why it matters

NYCFC has never had a permanent home of its own, a persistent sore point for one of MLS’s marquee, large-market clubs. A dedicated stadium gives the team a fixed identity and a year-round revenue base, and it anchors one of the most ambitious neighborhood redevelopments in Queens in a generation. For the city, the topping-out moves Willets Point another step from industrial relic toward a mixed-use district with a major-league venue at its center.

Verification

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Etihad Park being built?
In Willets Point, Queens, near Citi Field and the 7 train — part of a larger mixed-use redevelopment of the area that also includes affordable housing.
When will the stadium open?
It is targeted to open for the 2027-28 MLS season, around August 2027. NYCFC moved the opening to 2027 after MLS shifted to a fall-to-spring calendar; the club will keep playing at Yankee Stadium and Citi Field during the transition.
How big is the stadium and what does it cost?
It is a 25,000-seat venue. The club has cited a projected building cost of roughly $780 million, privately financed.
Why is it significant?
It will be New York City's first-ever soccer-specific stadium and, per NYCFC, the first fully electric outdoor stadium in the country.