MLS poll was actually full of crap

From the Queens Chronicle:

Major League Soccer released a poll over the weekend showing an overwhelming majority of Queens residents support a proposal they know little to nothing about.

The results of a survey commissioned by the league claims a vast majority of borough residents support the creation of a 25,000-seat soccer stadium a stone’s throw from the Unisphere in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. The full results show a majority of respondents were short on the proposal's details.

The survey was followed by a New York Post report which claimed the mayor has a list of high-profile projects which must be fast-tracked to ensure their approval before Bloomberg’s tenure in office ends in 14 months. The “legacy list” includes the proposed MLS stadium.

It was reportedly first started by former Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Dan Doctoroff and is the subject of ongoing weekly progress report meetings.

The Fairness Coalition of Queens, a collection of community groups opposing the stadium’s proposed location, is questioning the poll’s methodology. Members of the group said respondents were not presented with the full picture of the project, creating misleading figures meant to whitewash what has been a push to create the proverbial path of least resistance.

The survey had 650 respondents in total, 500 from around the borough and 150 selected from Corona and Flushing, which bookend the park.

It found 60 percent of respondents had seen, read or heard little to nothing about the plan. Yet 71 percent of respondents supported the creation of a soccer stadium within the borough, with 21 percent opposed.

Those figures drop when respondents were informed the stadium’s location would be in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, to 67 percent for and 27 percent against. The survey found a nearly identical level of support in the park’s adjacent communities.

How about the fact that this group wants to build a stadium in the middle of the Flushing River? Hello, storm surge?