Cracks Emerge in Ramps at New Yankee Stadium

The concrete pedestrian ramps at the brand-new $1.5 billion city-subsidized Yankee Stadium have been troubled by cracks, and the team is seeking to determine whether the problems were caused by the installation, the design, the concrete or other factors, according to several people briefed on the problems.

The ramps were built by a company accused of having links to the mob, and the concrete mix was designed and tested by a company under indictment on charges that it failed to perform some tests and falsified the results of others. But it is unclear whether work performed by either firm contributed to the deteriorating conditions of the ramps.

The Yankees have hired an engineering company to take samples from the ramps — they ascend from field level to the stadium’s upper tiers, carrying thousands of people each game — to determine the cause and the extent of the problems as the team finishes its first season in the new stadium and prepares for what could be its first World Series there.

A spokeswoman for the team, Alice McGillion, called the cracks “cosmetic,” saying that they posed no safety issues because they did not affect the structural integrity of the ramps. She characterized the work to repair the problems as “routine remediation,” which she said was “usual in this kind of building or in any other building.”

“There is no evidence that there is any issue or problem with concrete or any material in the building,” she said.

Several people briefed on the problems said, however, that they would cost several million dollars to fix. The cracks, some as much as an inch wide and several feet long, are visible on the slate-gray walkways. Those with knowledge of the defects spoke on the condition of anonymity, as did others, because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.

It remains unclear whether the problems will require the team to tear out any of the concrete along the affected walkways. Before the season began, the team had already taken steps to address the fact that the ramps did not comply with federal regulations concerning accommodations for the disabled, several people briefed on the issue said, changing the angle of the ramps.

The company that evaluated the strength of the concrete poured for the walkways, Testwell Laboratories, its owners and several officers were indicted last year on state racketeering charges, and they have all denied the accusations. The case stems from a sweeping 18-month investigation of the concrete-testing industry that also led to charges against a second company. The investigation also forced the city to order the retesting of the concrete in 80 structures in four boroughs, including the stadium. More than half a dozen other companies remain under scrutiny in the case.

The company that built the ramps, Interstate Industrial Corporation, was barred from doing city work in 2004 because city investigators concluded it had ties to organized crime, an accusation its owners have vehemently and repeatedly denied.

The contract for the work at Yankee Stadium was awarded to a company called Central Excavators. But the Yankees, Interstate and Turner Construction Company, the construction manager that built the stadium, have all acknowledged that Interstate performed the work.

One person with knowledge of the matter said the cracks and deterioration were unusual.

“But here, the issue is who is pouring the stuff and whether the pour created the problems, and in theory whether the original engineering was involved,” the person said. “You just couldn’t put it on Testwell. Maybe it’s Interstate, the people who poured the concrete, or the engineers, or some combination.”

The design work on the stadium, including on the ramps, was performed by Populous, a company in Kansas City, Mo. Gina Stingley, a spokeswoman for the company, said on Friday night that she was unfamiliar with the issues and could not comment.

Frank DiTommaso, an owner of Interstate, said he had heard that some patching had been done, but “we’ve never been contacted by the Yankees about any structural deficiencies.”

An effort to reach a Turner official by e-mail was unsuccessful, and a phone message left for an official at Jenna Concrete Corporation, which supplied the concrete, was not returned. A lawyer for Testwell said he was unaware of the situation and could not comment.

The Yankees are scheduled to play Game 6 of the American League Championship Series against the Angels at the stadium on Saturday.

If the engineering firm finds problems with the concrete at the new stadium, one of the city’s signature construction projects and one of the Bloomberg administration’s biggest development undertakings, it would mark the first time that defective concrete has been uncovered since the investigation began.

The problems also underscore the inadequacies in the process by which the city vets contractors on projects like the stadium, which was financed in significant part by the city but built by a private developer, Tishman-Speyer. The procedures for screening contractors on projects financed by the city’s Economic Development Corporation, as the stadium was, are less rigorous than for projects built and paid for by the city.

The Testwell indictment, unsealed last October, charged that the company failed to perform some strength tests and billed clients for work that was never done at the stadium and roughly 100 other projects, including the Freedom Tower. When the charges were announced by the Manhattan district attorney, Robert M. Morgenthau, city officials said the structures were believed to be safe, but might deteriorate sooner than expected.