Over the past eight years, the Mets and city officials alike have had to dodge a lot of political controversy to get the new Citi Field built in Flushing Meadows, Queens. NY1's Molly Kroon filed the following report.

The Mets are putting the finishing touches on their new home, which was built on city land on a former parking lot of the old Shea Stadium. The plan is modeled after historic Ebbets Field, which was the home of the former Brooklyn Dodgers.

But the baseball team and city officials alike have had to dodge their share of political controversy to get the ballpark built.

Back in 2001, then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani unveiled his deal with the Mets for a new stadium, but when incoming Mayor Michael Bloomberg read the fine print, it was stopped in its tracks.

As Bloomberg's vision of a "West Side Stadium" went up in smoke in 2005, plans for the new Mets ballpark rose from the ashes of the city's failed 2012 Olympic bid.

"We know how to get things done," said the mayor in June 2005.

As part of the deal, the city issued the Mets more than $600 million in tax-exempt bonds and another last-minute infusion of more than $0 million earlier this year. The city and state also put in about $150 million dollars for infrastructure cost.

Leading state and federal lawmakers opened investigations into how the Mets and Yankees scored such lucrative public financing deals, but the city defended the agreement.

“Practically, the Mets is a great deal for the city,” said Seth Pinsky/NYC Economic Development Corporation. “With an investment of roughly $90 million, the city was able to induce the Mets to pay for an $800 million stadium entirely with their own money.”

The investigations led to the embarrassing public disclosure that the mayor's office fought hard to get a luxury box at the new stadium. The city has since given up its right to the suite.

The city's redevelopment plans for Willets Point, the industrial land adjacent to the new park, has also been controversial, angering some of the area's longtime business owners. But the City Council approved the plan in November, after the city negotiated a deal with six large land owners.

Still, some business owners have gone to court to stop the city from taking over the rest of the property, possibly through eminent domain.

Local lawmakers also say the Mets have not lived up to other parts of their agreement with the neighborhood.

"Commitments to ensure that minorities and women business contractors and workers were involved, to ensure that 25 percent of them were Queens residents, we’ve never seen the report in any way they accomplished any of those goals," said Queens Senator Hiram Monserrate. "And finally, there's the issue of the naming of the stadium, which has been quite contentious."

In 2006, the Mets announced Citigroup had agreed to pay the team $400 million over 20 years to name the stadium Citi Field.

"We're delighted to have our name on this wonderful stadium," said Lewis Kaden of Citigroup.

Three years later, some lawmakers wanted to cancel the deal and called on the federal government to force Citigroup to walk away form the pricey naming agreement, after it got $45 billion in taxpayers' bailout money.

Citigroup said it would honor the agreement, with the company vowing none of the taxpayer money will be put toward the park.

Regardless of the criticism and controversy, the city and the Mets say the new stadium with be a home run for fans of the Amazins.