Yankee Stadium Continues to Crumble, Shea No More

With the final bulldozers schlepping off the remains of Shea Stadium, it appears that they've officially paved paradise and put up a parking lot.

But Shea lives on...in space. Mike Massimino, the astronaut who made headlines with the inspirational first-ever tweet from space last week, also brought a home plate from Shea onto the Hubble Telescope mission he's aboard. Massimo is a native New Yorker, lifelong Met fan and apparently loves Sting.

And it certainly didn't take long for the name Shea Stadium to be reappropriated by the cool kids around town. Brooklyn Vegan reports that there is a new all-ages venue coming to Williamsburg with the same name as the old home of the Mets. One of the commenters on the indie rock blog responds to the news, "I love how pretty much every hipster now owns a Mets t-shirt." Well good luck asking one how Pelfrey looked tonight the next time you spot an Amazins tee at Santos Party House.

And the second-most overpriced seats in New York continue to be torn up at the old Yankee Stadium up in the Bronx. The House that Ruth Built probably hadn't seen this many blues on the field since Billy Joel's medley of "Piano Man," "Honesty" and "Only the Good Die Young" back in 1990.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Billy Parker in News on May 21, 2009 2:58 PM

Comments [rss]

longacre

Some food for thought: Dodger Stadium, built in the same era as Shea, is now the third oldest in the majors, behind Wrigley and Fenway. To date no one has talked about replacing it.

Son of Spam

The Mets' broadcast team touched on this during the implosion there this week.

One of the main reasons Dodger Stadium doesn't need to be replaced like Shea is that 50 years of socal weather were much kinder to Dodger Stadium than 47 years of NYC weather were to Shea.

Also, it is my suspicion that O'Malley took better care of his toys than the NYC Parks Dept did.

BlueFairlane

No, but there is a major rennovation in the works ... http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/la/ballpark/next50/index.jsp

NannyState

Shea lives forever on Google Earth, where it's always 2004.

Snoopy

Do you know how much a home plate weighs? I don't. Do you know how much it costs NASA to lift a pound of weight into space? I don't.

Just asking.

JacqueMehoff

do they still play "everyBODY Clap your HANDS"?

Steven

This is what greed does.

In 30-40 years Mets and Yankees will be complaining once again about getting a new stadium.

everyAframe

Lyric is: They paved paradise and put UP a parking lot.

Fix your "put a parking lot" link and viola, joke works.

BillyParker

And it sounds better!

shoobywillis

well, at least google maps isn't up to date. all you nostalgics can get one last glimpse at the old parks there.

ChampionOfTheSun

I haven't been to CitiField yet this season, but I know it's gonna be weird approaching the stadium on the 7 train and not seeing Shea. I loved that tacky, old dump. It had character.

NoGo

I've lived in Queens all my life and loved Shea. But I'm not gonna lie, CitiField is nice. However, still as nice as it is, it kind of feels like 'any stadium in Anytown, USA.' Nothing shouted Queens like that spectacular blue dump with neon silhouettes.