Polo Grounds
New York, NY ~
February 28, 2009
The John T. Brush Stairway Presented by the New York Giants survives as the last standing remnant associated with the Polo Grounds, once the home of the baseball Giants. It is located between Edgecombe Avenue and Harlem River Drive, just north of W. 155 Street in Manhattan (the stadium stood east of Harlem River Drive, which connected to the Polo Grounds via two other staircases). The west (upper) end of the John T. Brush Stairway meets Edgecomb Avenue immediately north of Coogan's Bluff Playground. Ticketless fans gathered at Coogan's Bluff to watch baseball games from afar, looking down into the stadium.
The site of the Polo Grounds is now covered by Polo Grounds Towers, a public housing project. This plaque can be found on the south side of Tower D. I have read that another plaque may (or may not have) marked the spot of center field. For many years a set of outdoor basketball courts, the outfield is now covered by a community center. Looking something like concrete Lego, the community center seems unfinished and not planned to open anytime soon - the only set of entrance doors were chained shut and marked with bullet holes. Many websites indicate this area as a dangerous neighborhood, perhaps rightfully so, but our experience was pleasant.
The plaque on
Tower D reads, in full:
-------------------------------------------
Polo
Grounds
Approximate Location
Of Home Plate
Home of the
New York Giants
National Baseball League
1890-1957
World Champions
1904 · 1905 · 1921 · 1922 · 1933 · 1954
_______________
The Giants Shared This Field
With The New York Yankees
1913-1922
The New York Mets Played Here
1962-1963
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The metal bars projecting from the rock may
be remnants from the
northerly staircase that led from Harlem River Drive to the stadium.
There was/is a cool
sign (offsite link) at one of the entrances to the housing project
site, but I did not see it.
View towards New Yankee Stadium (center) with Polo
Grounds Towers at right, Rangel Houses at left..
The green and blue structure at right-center is the new community center, built over
what had been the outfield.
Home plate was to the right, and the street here more or less follows the
third-base side of the Polo Grounds.
View from Coogan's Bluff. Click
here for an historic image similar to this vantage point. (offsite link).
View of the Polo Grounds Towers from Edgecombe
Avenue and W. 155 Street.
This page copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Yasinsac.
Reproduction of text and/or photographs without the permission of Robert J. Yasinsac is
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