Newsday reported that the New York Mets new stadium will be green. The baseball diamond won't be the only thing that's "green" at the new Mets stadium, which will be built and equipped with a variety of environmentally conscious features, team, city and federal officials announced yesterday.

Citi Field, which is rising next to Shea Stadium in Flushing and will open next year, is being built with recycled steel and concrete made with coal combustion products, reducing carbon emissions. The ballpark will use energy-efficient lights and feature bathrooms with water conservation measures such as automatic, hands-free faucets, automatic flush toilets and waterless urinals. Also, the team's new administration building will have a "green" roof, vegetation on it.

Jeff Wilpon, the team's chief operating officer, said although some of the measures may cost more up-front, they will save money over the long haul. “It was important to us to do this in an environmentally friendly way," Wilpon said of the new ballpark.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whose PlaNYC environmental blueprint calls for a 30 percent reduction in the city's carbon emissions over the next two decades, said Citi Field will be the centerpiece of the city's plans to redevelop the Willets Point area surrounding the ballpark. The industrial triangle known as Willets Point will require significant environmental cleanup before the city's plans can proceed.

"Citi Field will have a significantly smaller carbon footprint than Shea Stadium did," the mayor said at a news conference at Shea yesterday morning, "and it is a key element in one of the most significant environmental reclamations in the city."