March 10, 2010

Yankee Stadium demolition picks up pace

I dropped by Yankee Stadium yesterday, where the pace of demolition is picking up as the June completion date nears. (Not to mention, cynics might note, opening day, by when the Yankees might like to have the picked-apart corpse of the House That Ruth Built out of sight as much as possible.) The left-field grandstand has a large hole in it now, and several deep gashes where work crews are preparing to take down more sections.

There's also a growing crowd of people on the nearby #4 elevated train platform, snapping a few photos but mostly watching the demolition in grim silence. Yesterday I met an off-duty policeman who said the scene was "sad," and that he'd worked the final game at the old stadium; he also pointed out the old Yankee logo etched into the exterior outfield wall, now exposed for the first time in decades by the demolition crews. (See more photos below the jump, click to enlarge).