5. The Polo Grounds

Photo from Library of Congress

The Polo Grounds is one of the oldest sporting venues in New York City, built originally for the sport of polo, as the name suggests. It was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan that was home to the likes of the Giants, the New York Jets, the New York Brickley Giants, the Yankees, and the Mets. The New York Giants played at the Polo Grounds from 1880 to 1957. The Yankees played at Polo Grounds from 1913 to 1922, and the Mets called the Polo Grounds home for their first two seasons, 1962 and 1963.

From the late 1940s on, the Polo Grounds suffered from dilapidation, lack of maintenance, and obsolescence. After the departure of the Yankees and the Giants to the Bronx, the baseball Giants ultimately left for San Francisco in 1957. Afterwards, the ballpark was dormant for nearly three years, until the newly formed Titans (present-day New York Jets) and the Mets used it as an interim home. Finally in 1964, the Polo Grounds was demolished—intriguingly with the same wrecking ball that was used on Ebbets Field four years earlier. A housing project was built and opened on the site in 1968.

You can still see the long staircase of the subway station that serviced the Polo Grounds at 155th Street, although it is in pretty bad shape.