Mayor Bloomberg heats up Bronx

Mary Altaffer/AP

OFFICIALS on both sides of the Whitestone Bridge ramped up their inter-borough soccer rivalry Monday, one day after Mayor Bloomberg suggested that a new Major League Soccer franchise will get its kicks in the Bronx, not Queens.

The mayor said in his weekly radio address Sunday that "Yankee Stadium will become the home of the New York City Football Club, the first soccer club in the five boroughs since the 1970s."

But then Hizzoner backpedaled faster than David Beckham.

"The script for the mayor's radio address overstated the possibility that the New York Football Club could play some games at Yankee Stadium while they search for a permanent home," mayoral spokeswoman Julie Wood said. "No decision has been made on where they will play."

Still, Bloomberg's comments reignited the interborough bluster between Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and Queens Assemblyman Francisco Moya, who has been championing the idea of a new stadium in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.

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Meanwhile, Diaz is trying to snatch the squad from Queens' clutches and bring it to the Boogie Down. He has an ongoing wager with Moya on the club's final location. If the squad ends up in the Bronx, Diaz gets a plate of Ecuadorian empanadas from Moya. If Queens gets the newly created team, Moya will get some delicious Puerto Rican food.

The Bronx has free kick right now.

"Right now we're in the process of putting together a meeting," said John DeSio, a Diaz spokesman. "The initial reaction from MLS has been positive."

Moya isn't intimidated by Diaz's fancy footwork.

"The Bronx is a baseball town. Queens is a soccer town," said Moya (D-Jackson Heights). "I'm going to invite him to Queens to see the first game played after we build a stadium."

RELATED: MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER WON'T BE COMING TO QUEENS: POL

MLS officials had planned to build the 25,000-seat stadium on up to 13 acres in Flushing Meadows. But the stadium proposal has drawn a red card from greenspace lovers.

"It's definitely safe to say that they were caught off guard by the tremendous opposition," said Geoffrey Croft with NYC Park Advocates.

A spokeswoman for the franchise reiterated its intention to find a long-term place to build a devoted following and did not rule out Queens.

"(The team) is looking for a home, not simply a place to play," said NYC FC spokeswoman Risa Heller.

With Jennifer Fermino

idejohn@nydailynews.com