4. Shea Stadium

Shea StadiumPhoto from Wikimedia Commons by Metsfan84

Built as a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens, Shea Stadium served as the home of the New York Mets from 1964 to 2008 and the New York Jets from 1964 to 1983. After the departure of the New York Giants to San Francisco, and the Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles, New York City was left without a Major League baseball team. In 1960, an agreement was struck between the National League and Mayor Robert Wagner, Jr. that would grant an expansion to the owners of the New York franchise in the abortive Continental League, should a new stadium be built for them. And so, the new stadium was built and named after William A. Shea, the man who brought National League baseball back to New York.

While Shea Stadium was renovated from a multi-purpose stadium to a solely baseball one after the New York Jets left for Giants Stadium in 1964, the ballpark was not optimal for baseball. Since the 1990s, the Mets began talking about moving to a new stadium. Disputes with the city arose during the end of Mayor Giuliani’s term and continued during Mayor Bloomberg’s term over the expenses of building a new stadium, but the final plans for Citi Field were created as part of New York City 2012 Olympic bid. The demolition of Shea Stadium began in October 2008 and the land was used as extra parking space for the adjacent Citi Field.