Stadium quick hits: destruct-o-porn, politics and football

Tom Kaminski is starting to pull out our heartstrings. The man behind the camera in WCBS’ Chopper 880 has been making the rounds over old Yankee Stadium as crews work to tear down the park, and the pictures are heartbreaking. As the shot above shows, the stadium will soon be without its frieze. A full photogallery of these shots is available here.

Meanwhile, over the last week, Kaminski has spotted some interesting goings-on inside the House that Ruth Built. The stadium is being reclaimed by nature. Weeds and wispy plants are sprouting out of the former infield and outfield areas while the stands are covered in moss. The foul poles have been removed as well.

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While the old stadium will soon be but a memory in the minds of Yankee fans, the new stadium has become a campaign issue in the Bronx. Helen Foster, City Council representative from the 16th district, is facing Carlos Sierra in the primaries in two weeks, and both politicians are unhappy with the stadium. Gotham Gazette’s David King had more:

For both candidates, the stadium symbolizes how projects the rest of the city might want are not necessarily best for their low-income district. During her time on the council Foster has been outspoken in her criticism of the stadium. “I was the lone voice on the council against Yankee Stadium,” she said, “and now we are seeing a lot of what we were afraid of come to fruition. Local vendors have been left out. There was a recent article about a fruit stand there that is bringing fruit from out of state, from Washington and New Mexico.”

Sierra has been active at protests at the stadium and says he intends to keep pressuring the team to build parks to replace the ones that existed where the stadium now stands.

While stadium supporters pushed the local angle turning construction, most urban policy experts are not surprised the stadium has not been a boon for near-by neighborhoods. This is a nation-wide trend, and sports stadiums continue to exist uneasily with the surrounding areas. That’s why sports economists generally do not support public investments in private sports stadiums.

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Finally, the Chicago Tribune reports that the Yankees are courting a Big Ten team for a football game at the stadium. Northwestern has been in talks with team officials about playing a game in the new park, and the Big Ten and Big East may turn to the Bronx for a bowl game.