Tuesday, March 2, 2010

The true end of an era


From the Daily News:

It still ain't over till its over.

That's the vow a group of Yankee fans made Tuesday after losing the latest - and possibly final - battle with the city to save Gate 2 at the old Yankee Stadium.

The city Public Design Commission on Monday granted preliminary approval to the Parks Department's plans to commemorate the old Yankee Stadium - without retaining Gate 2.

Now the Gate 2 fans say they will pursue legal action to save it from the wrecking ball.

The entire stadium is set to be demolished by June to make way for a Heritage Field Park.

The Parks Department plans to commemorate the House that Ruth Built by putting in engraved plaques and preserving elements of the stadium frieze and the famous bat statue outside.


For the life of me, I can't understand why we are not saving anything of the original House That Ruth Built, where countless championships were won, where iconic figures played, where history was made and which is famous around the world. If this doesn't qualify for landmark status, then we might as well just tear down the Empire State Building while we're at it.

6 comments:

Joe said...

Whats the big deal with gate 2. Wasnt it was rebuilt in the 60's with a roll up gate and turnstyles(not original)
At least the Bronx is getting a park out of it.
Look what happened to Roosevelt stadium. It became townhouses and a k-Mart on Newark Bay with a 100X100 patch of green made on toxic landfill

Lino said...

That place was rebuilt beginning in 1973 (post CBS) and reopened in '76. It was a classic sports boondoggle, originally slated to cost $19 million..it ended up some ten times that figure.

All so that a bunch of sweaty millionaires can throw a ball around.

FWIW: Baseball isn't that "iconic" in most countries, there it is soccer that drives them nuts.

Tear the damn thing down and give those people up there a park again.

Anonymous said...

What is a "Heritage Field Park"? The News uses this term as if it were a noun. They're going to put a baseball field there, no? Case closed.

Anonymous said...

90% of Gate 2 is original. Despite what the city says, most of the facade of Yankee Stadium wasn't altered during the 1973 renovation.

Tourists flock to Yankee Stadium from around the world whether they are baseball fans or not.

Anonymous said...

Tear down the stadium already. The park is long overdue. The community needs it. The original park was taken away to build the new stadium, with the help of Mayor Moneybags, ESDC and the Yankees.

ConcernedQNZ said...

Preserve the gate so it can become an eyesore in 10-15 years?

Rip it down.. give the Bronx back their parkland.