Macombs Dam Park
Encyclopedia
Macombs Dam Park is a park in the New York City
borough
of the Bronx
. The park is situated in the shadow of Yankee Stadium, between Jerome Avenue and the Major Deegan Expressway
, near the Harlem River
and the Macombs Dam Bridge
. The park is administered and maintained by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
. The majority of Macombs Dam Park has not been open to the public since August 2006, when construction began on the new Yankee Stadium
.
The 28.425 acres (115,032 m²) park, prior to the stadium construction, featured baseball
and softball
diamonds, basketball
courts, and football
and soccer
fields. An oft-neglected urban park, portions of the park are often used during Yankee home games to provide additional parking for vehicles in an area underserved by garages and other parking facilities.
and Brooklyn
's Prospect Park
, among several other New York locations. Parks advocates contend that Macombs Dam Park is no less valuable than Central Park or Prospect Park, which are both in much wealthier neighborhoods. Macombs Dam Park is in New York's 16th congressional district
, the poorest in the United States.
Yankee Stadium opened in 1923 and the Bronx County Courthouse
, two blocks east on Grand Concourse
, opened in 1927. Most of the neighborhood's apartment buildings opened in the 1920s and 1930s, including many Art Deco
landmarks that line the perimeter of what had been Macombs Dam Park.
s had been. Currently, accessing the waterfront requires walking under the Major Deegan Expressway
and over railroad tracks from Metro-North's Hudson Line
. Other recreation areas will be built on top of parking garages where the parks had been; these will be closed on game days, which make up 81 days of the 183 days between April and September, to accommodate fans' cars. The roofs of the garages will be lined with artificial surface and counted as replacement parkland by New York City. Other replacement recreation areas will be atop the 9 acres (36,421.7 m²) site of the old Yankee Stadium. The above ground structure of the ballpark, built in 1923, will be completely torn down, with the underground clubhouses remaining in use for the new parkland.
against the Chicago Cubs
.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
borough
Borough (New York City)
New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...
of the Bronx
The Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
. The park is situated in the shadow of Yankee Stadium, between Jerome Avenue and the Major Deegan Expressway
Interstate 87
Interstate 87 is a Interstate Highway located entirely within New York State in the United States of America. I-87 is the longest intrastate Interstate highway in the Interstate Highway System. Its southern end is at the Bronx approaches of the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge in New York City...
, near the Harlem River
Harlem River
The Harlem River is a navigable tidal strait in New York City, USA that flows 8 miles between the Hudson River and the East River, separating the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx...
and the Macombs Dam Bridge
Macombs Dam Bridge
Macombs Dam Bridge is a swing bridge that spans the Harlem River in New York City, connecting the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx near Yankee Stadium. It is the third-oldest bridge in New York City and was designated an official landmark in January 1992...
. The park is administered and maintained by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
The City of New York Department of Parks & Recreation is the department of government of the City of New York responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecological diversity of the city's natural areas, and furnishing recreational opportunities for city's...
. The majority of Macombs Dam Park has not been open to the public since August 2006, when construction began on the new Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium was a stadium located in The Bronx in New York City, New York. It was the home ballpark of the New York Yankees from 1923 to 1973 and from 1976 to 2008. The stadium hosted 6,581 Yankees regular season home games during its 85-year history. It was also the former home of the New York...
.
The 28.425 acres (115,032 m²) park, prior to the stadium construction, featured baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
and softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
diamonds, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
courts, and football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
and soccer
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
fields. An oft-neglected urban park, portions of the park are often used during Yankee home games to provide additional parking for vehicles in an area underserved by garages and other parking facilities.
History
Macombs Dam Park opened in 1899, when the Bronx was mostly farmland. As was typical for urban planning at that time, a large, central greenspace was set aside to ensure that the developing neighborhood would be livable and sustainable. This same type of development had already been thriving around Manhattan's Central ParkCentral Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
and Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
's Prospect Park
Prospect Park (Brooklyn)
Prospect Park is a 585-acre public park in the New York City borough of Brooklyn located between Park Slope, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Kensington, Windsor Terrace and Flatbush Avenue, Grand Army Plaza and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden...
, among several other New York locations. Parks advocates contend that Macombs Dam Park is no less valuable than Central Park or Prospect Park, which are both in much wealthier neighborhoods. Macombs Dam Park is in New York's 16th congressional district
New York's 16th congressional district
New York's 16th Congressional District is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives located in the Bronx. The district includes the neighborhoods of Bedford Park, East Tremont, Fordham, Hunts Point, Melrose, Highbridge, Morrisania, Mott Haven and University Heights. ...
, the poorest in the United States.
Yankee Stadium opened in 1923 and the Bronx County Courthouse
Bronx County Courthouse
The Bronx County Courthouse is a historic courthouse building located in the Bronx in New York City. It was designed in 1931 and built between 1931 and 1934. It is a nine story limestone building on a rusticated granite base in the Classical Revival style. It has four identical sides, an interior...
, two blocks east on Grand Concourse
Grand Concourse (Bronx)
The Grand Concourse is a major thoroughfare in the borough of the Bronx in New York City...
, opened in 1927. Most of the neighborhood's apartment buildings opened in the 1920s and 1930s, including many Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
landmarks that line the perimeter of what had been Macombs Dam Park.
Replacement parkland
Bronx officials had promised that replacement parks would be built before the stadium project began. When the stadium construction began with no new parks in place, city officials then said they would be completed by 2007. When the $1.6 billion stadium is completed, in 2009, residents will have several new recreation areas. Some of the recreation areas will be ballfields on the Harlem River waterfront, about a half-mile from where Macombs Dam and Mullaly ParkMullaly Park
Mullaly Park lies between Jerome Avenue and River Avenue in the South Bronx. East 164th Street separates it from the new Yankee Stadium on the south. The park is named after John Mullaly, who is known as the father of the Bronx parks system....
s had been. Currently, accessing the waterfront requires walking under the Major Deegan Expressway
Major Deegan Expressway
The Major Deegan Expressway is a north–south expressway in the New York City borough of the Bronx...
and over railroad tracks from Metro-North's Hudson Line
Hudson Line (Metro-North)
Metro-North Railroad's Hudson Line is a commuter rail line running north from New York City along the east shore of the Hudson River. Metro-North service ends at Poughkeepsie, with Amtrak's Empire Corridor trains continuing north to and beyond Albany...
. Other recreation areas will be built on top of parking garages where the parks had been; these will be closed on game days, which make up 81 days of the 183 days between April and September, to accommodate fans' cars. The roofs of the garages will be lined with artificial surface and counted as replacement parkland by New York City. Other replacement recreation areas will be atop the 9 acres (36,421.7 m²) site of the old Yankee Stadium. The above ground structure of the ballpark, built in 1923, will be completely torn down, with the underground clubhouses remaining in use for the new parkland.
Financing
The new recreation areas will cost at least $150 million, paid for entirely by New York City taxpayers. (There is no cap on public spending for the Yankees' stadium.) City officials say the neighborhood will benefit from the new recreation areas. Residents say they prefer a park of central, continuous greenspace to the smaller, scattered ballfields. Renovating Macombs Dam and John Mullaly parks would have cost about $25 million. The city's parks department will retain ownership of the land where the Yankees' new stadium will be, but will not charge the Yankees rent or property taxes.Controversy
Residents and parks advocates had criticized the Yankees' changes to the neighborhood, which included cutting down 377 mature oak trees. They said state and federal laws designed to protect parkland from private development made this project unfair and possibly illegal. Community advocates said at the time they still planned to fight the project in court, even as construction crews have blocked off their parkland and begun tearing down its trees. According to the city's Environmental Impact Statement for the Yankees' stadium project, several buildings surrounding Macombs Dam Park may become blighted when the project is completed. Opponents to the construction of the new Stadium were defeated and the Stadium officially opened on April 3, 2009, for an exhibition gameExhibition game
An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...
against the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
.