Thursday, February 25, 2010

Save Gate 2 Suffers Major Setback

From Benjamin Peim:
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.

"I'm definitely going ahead with an injunction," said group member Tim Reid, 55, of Boca Raton, Fla.

...

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.

"It feels like you just found out a good friend of yours had terminal cancer," said John Trush, 58, of Washington, N.J. "But we're gonna figure out a way forward."
From these next quotes it seems like the Gate 2 folks just don't have those in power on their side:

Residents and local officials have said they feared that adjusting the plans for Gate 2 would further delay construction of the new park.

"I really hope they rethink and don't delay this project," Community Board 4 District Manager Jose Rodriguez said of the gate fans' plan to fight the decision. "There's a community that wants its parks online already."

...

A Parks spokeswoman said yesterday, "Parks looks forward to advancing the design and approaching the next step, which is to seek final approval from the Public Design Commission."

Like I said the other day, I cannot believe that people actually need to fight for this, the fact that they're losing that fight is disgraceful. Why are we so quick to knock down and erase our history in this country? I understand the residents of the community want their park, and there's nothing wrong with that. But wouldn't it be better for the community to build a park that will immediately become a tourist attraction as well?

As a pretty big Yankees fan myself, I have no warm feelings about the current plans for Heritage Park. It's not a place I ever need to see or go to. With Gate 2 preserved it will go from a empty park where our beloved stadium once stood to a holy site for us fans, and a must-visit when we take our trips to the stadium.

Besides waiting a little longer I only see positives in keeping Gate 2; for New York City, the Bronx, and the residents of the community. I wish more people saw it that way.

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