Yankee Stadium [I] Demolition

[voodoochile]

You are certainly right. The safety factor should have been extremely higher. You're talking about driving over a bridge as opposed to patronizing an establishment for hours and paying a fee to do so.

I don't understand the safety factor as far as what it entails to meet a specific number rating, but the upper deck at the stadium rested on the back wall and columns for 85 years. The renovation added more leverage in the form of extra rows, balanced it at its fulcrum, and held it in place with cables at the back end. A designed rise of a quarter inch may give it some room for error, but how did they know that the front half wouldn't crack and crumble when it is loaded with spectators? The first year following the renovation the Yankees held Bat Day. About 30 or 40 thousand bats were handed out, and slammed on the deck in unison. I heard that the upper deck was like being on a ship in high seas.

I was in the upper deck a few times when it began to sway a little, and I knew that it was safe, but I still felt somewhat uneasy. That deck has been frozen, thawed, baked and jumped up and down on every year for 85 years. How stable could it be?

[NYFan1stYankFan2nd]

You are certainly right. The safety factor should have been extremely higher. You're talking about driving over a bridge as opposed to patronizing an establishment for hours and paying a fee to do so.

I don't understand the safety factor as far as what it entails to meet a specific number rating, but the upper deck at the stadium rested on the back wall and columns for 85 years. The renovation added more leverage in the form of extra rows, balanced it at its fulcrum, and held it in place with cables at the back end. A designed rise of a quarter inch may give it some room for error, but how did they know that the front half wouldn't crack and crumble when it is loaded with spectators? The first year following the renovation the Yankees held Bat Day. About 30 or 40 thousand bats were handed out, and slammed on the deck in unison. I heard that the upper deck was like being on a ship in high seas.

I was in the upper deck a few times when it began to sway a little, and I knew that it was safe, but I still felt somewhat uneasy. That deck has been frozen, thawed, baked and jumped up and down on every year for 85 years. How stable could it be?

Or, when thousands of fans initiate that time-honored ritual - the "wave"!

[zellyanks91]

Here are a bunch of photos from zells pinstripe blog:

http://zellspinstripeblog.com/2009/0...stadium-92509/

[JoeDOYS]

Here are a bunch of photos from zells pinstripe blog:

http://zellspinstripeblog.com/2009/0...stadium-92509/

Not too sure Gary is going to like that you removed the watermarks from the photos...

[RichardLillard1]

You know, that stuff irks the heck out of me. How hard is it to credit someone?


Richard

[JoeDOYS]

You know, that stuff irks the heck out of me. How hard is it to credit someone?


Richard

Zell is also a big time spammer, i see what he does out there to get traffic to his site(s)....

Sorry to get off topic...im done.

[locke40]

You know, that stuff irks the heck out of me. How hard is it to credit someone?


Richard

Richard, same here. He also incorrectly calls the frieze, the "facade." That probably irks me even more!! Is it that hard to look up the damn word in the dictionary?! :noidea:noidea:noidea:noidea:noidea

[Gary Dunaier]

Here are a bunch of photos from zells pinstripe blog:

Not too sure Gary is going to like that you removed the watermarks from the photos...

I don't. Although Kevin Rozell gave me credit, he altered my work by cropping and/or shrinking my photos. Some of the photos as they appear on his site look "squished."

Wish I knew why Kevin Rozell takes the time to do the extra work involved in cropping my watermark out of my photos, when it would be easier to just cut and paste as is.

[paynoaks]

I think that was my favorite part. I'm sure Mike didn't make that mistake again after that!!

When we were young and in New York, we often talked about the rare occurrence when a homer might hit the facade. I didn't hear the frieze word until Mike Wagner used it.

Dick Muller

[The Monument]

Yes, Dick, it was the "facade" for almost 85 years until it became the frieze. Correct or not, I continue to refer to the old Stadium's crown as the facade, though I do call the new Stadium's the frieze. A couple of questions for you--It may sound crazy, but is it possible, as some of us have speculated, that the beam from the expansion joint that fell in 1998 was tampered with? Remember, Yanks management was trying to get a new Stadium, and what better way than to draw attention to a decaying old building than to have that happen during the 75th anniversary? The fact that it happened on an off day when the stands were empty only makes it more suspicious. Also, do you have any photos of the Stadium renovation project? Thanks.

[RationalNYYfan]

Yes, Dick, it was the "facade" for almost 85 years until it became the frieze. Correct or not, I continue to refer to the old Stadium's crown as the facade, though I do call the new Stadium's the frieze. A couple of questions for you--It may sound crazy, but is it possible, as some of us have speculated, that the beam from the expansion joint that fell in 1998 was tampered with? Remember, Yanks management was trying to get a new Stadium, and what better way than to draw attention to a decaying old building than to have that happen during the 75th anniversary? The fact that it happened on an off day when the stands were empty only makes it more suspicious. Also, do you have any photos of the Stadium renovation project? Thanks.

Seems like an interesting conspiracy, but I think the Yankees are powerful enough to not have to resort to something like that. If they want to build a new stadium, they'll get it done. They don't need to do something like that.

[Yankees12]

Yes, Dick, it was the "facade" for almost 85 years until it became the frieze. Correct or not, I continue to refer to the old Stadium's crown as the facade, though I do call the new Stadium's the frieze. A couple of questions for you--It may sound crazy, but is it possible, as some of us have speculated, that the beam from the expansion joint that fell in 1998 was tampered with? Remember, Yanks management was trying to get a new Stadium, and what better way than to draw attention to a decaying old building than to have that happen during the 75th anniversary? The fact that it happened on an off day when the stands were empty only makes it more suspicious. Also, do you have any photos of the Stadium renovation project? Thanks.

First off, the correct architectural term for the frieze is indeed the frieze, whether it's on the south side of 161st or the north side. The fact that it was called a "facade" was just an error that persisted for 85 years.

Second off, the reason the beam fell was that it was previously a load-bearing beam before the renovation, and the cantilever installed during the renovation took the load off of it, allowing it to move. After 22 years of being "loose" it fell. There's an actual scientific reason for it, not some whacked out conspiracy.

Plus, do you really think that the Yanks A.) needed a beam to fall to get a new Stadium with the political clout they have and with a pro-new ballparks mayor like Giuliani office?, and B.) that the Yanks wanted to sacrifice a multitude of home games (4 wound up being the actual count) for that to happen? No way was that a conspiracy.

[NYFan1stYankFan2nd]

Yes, Dick, it was the "facade" for almost 85 years until it became the frieze. Correct or not, I continue to refer to the old Stadium's crown as the facade, though I do call the new Stadium's the frieze. A couple of questions for you--It may sound crazy, but is it possible, as some of us have speculated, that the beam from the expansion joint that fell in 1998 was tampered with? Remember, Yanks management was trying to get a new Stadium, and what better way than to draw attention to a decaying old building than to have that happen during the 75th anniversary? The fact that it happened on an off day when the stands were empty only makes it more suspicious. Also, do you have any photos of the Stadium renovation project? Thanks.

Funny - I read everywhere that the falling rocker incident was within hours of a home game, as does everyone else I know who reads or watches news. So I think it was LUCK that damn thing didn't fall on some fans.

[GrafZeppelin127]

There was supposed to be a game that night.

[NYFan1stYankFan2nd]

There was supposed to be a game that night.

Exactly! A few hours later and this would have been a tragedy. So Monument is correct - it became an off day due to the falling piece at the Stadium.