The Bobster sent this along awhile ago. Excellent photo:
To those of us who remember 1964, Shea Stadium will always be linked to
the New York World's Fair. They opened in the same month, and many
people thought Shea was actually part of the Fair. Of course, the Fair
closed in October 1965 and Shea has lasted another 43 years until it
too, is about to meet the wrecking ball.
I really like this
photo because it shows the excitement of a time when Shea was brand new
and sharing the spotlight with the Fair. Besides Shea, the only
structures still standing from this picture are the Unisphere, and the
Singer Bowl, which has since morphed into Louis Armstrong Stadium, part
of the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament.
I've been watching the films in pieces with my kids and they are a real trip. We wrote about the DVDs a few weeks back. There are six complete games here, plus lots of great bonus stuff, including the endings to the 1969 World Series, Shea division clinchers, an interview with Bill Shea and plenty more.
And you can have it for free.
I am going to do a random drawing on Sunday, July 13. Very simple rules to enter:
1) Write a short note (at least 50 words) describing either your favorite memory of Shea Stadium OR something you will miss about Shea Stadium. 2) Send your note to Kingman AT Blogsbyfans.com.
Limit two entries per person (one entry on each topic). I reserve the right to publish your entry on Loge13.com, unless you request that I not publish your entry on Loge13.com.
I will draw a winning name from the list of entries.
Of course, doing a random drawing doesn't ensure that the best written, most touching entry will win. Therefore there will also be a special "Mayor's Trophy" prize, awarded by an unbiased board of non-Mets fans that I will assemble. They will review each entry and select what they feel is the best written piece of the non-winning bunch.
Here is the latest press release regarding Willets Point redevelopment.
Willets Point land and business owners along with hundreds of their employees will hold a protest outside Queens Community Board 7 prior to their vote on the City's redevelopment plan for Willets Point on Monday, June 30. They will be joined by supporters from the Castle Coalition and Institute for Justice who oppose Eminent Domain abuse.
The Willets Point Industry and Realty Association (WPIRA), a group of land and business owners who have been operating various industrial and manufacturing family businesses for 30-70 years at Willets Point, continue to combat the City's campaign of misinformation to get approval on the redevelopment of Willets Point without a formal plan or identification of a developer.
Key Points In City's Continued Misrepresentation of the Willets Point Redevelopment Plan:
• The New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC) continues to claim that the entire 65-acre site is contaminated and requires environmental remediation. WPIRA owns approximately 45% of the land in Willets Point and many of their sites have already been remediated. It has not been proven that Willets Point needs to be seized and capped with 6-10 feet of fill in order to address contamination.
• Willets Point is NOT blighted, it has been intentionally neglected by the City of New York for decades and former Queens Borough President Claire Shulman is partially to blame. In 1991, at the request of Shulman, The New York City Public Development Corporation commissioned a study of Willets Point. The report stated, among other things that:
- "The area desperately needs a renewed infrastructure." - "The lack of adequate infrastructure is the most obvious impediment to the success of Willets Point" - "Willets Point has no sanitary sewers and the few storm sewers that exist are collapsed or perpetually clogged."
Shulman ignored the advice of the experts and the pleas for help in installing infrastructure from her constituents. Because of Claire Shulman's inaction during her tenure as Borough President, the City of New York today intends to spend upwards of $3 billion dollars to redevelop the area during an economic downturn.
• The EDC continues to misrepresent its efforts to relocate businesses. At a Community Board 7 meeting on June 23, Board Member Joe Sweeney reprimanded the EDC for not reaching out to the business owners in a more effective and timely manner. While the EDC has publicly touted agreements, the track record is weak in that after 4 years they have been able to sign a contract with only 2 of the estimated 260 businesses in Willets Point. Furthermore, the contracts are contingent on the approval of the City Council to pass the City's $3 billion redevelopment plan.
• At the moment, the City has no definitive plans to address the impact on increased traffic and transit congestion in the Borough that would lead to virtually stagnant conditions on major roadways in and out of Willets Point and neighboring Flushing. The City's own Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Willets Point stated that the plan would create immitigable traffic congestion on the Van Wyck Expressway.
• WPIRA employs over 1500 highly-skilled workers who are paid above-average wages and benefits. These 9 businesses alone generate close to a billion dollars in economic activity and millions in tax revenue for the city.
City Council Members continue to express their disapproval of the City's plan:
• On June 23, 2008, Queens Council Members Tony Avella, Hiram Monserrate and John Liu urged Community Board 7 to vote against the plan.
• On April 21, 2008, 29 New York City Council Members sent a letter to Deputy Mayor Robert Lieber about the redevelopment plan for Willets Point and wrote, "This plan is unacceptable, and we wish to inform you that without significant modifications, we will strongly oppose it, leaving no chance of moving forward."
• On March 13, 2007, Council Member Melinda Katz wrote to Deputy Mayor Lieber stating her previous request that "the certification of the project be postponed until such time that agreements in principle can be reached on the outstanding issues with all concerned parties." Katz requested a postponement of certification to allow the negotiations to continue."
DATE: Monday June 30, 2008
TIME: Rally – 6:30PM Community Board 7 Public Meeting & Vote – 7PM
WHERE: UNION PLAZA CARE CENTER 3323 UNION STREET, FLUSHING, NY 11354
I would like to see just how much of that nearly $1 billion in economic activity that the WPIRA claims. It's been my experience that the crime families (I mean legitimate businessmen), offer some VERY steep cash discounts. I'm sure they report all that income.
The reporter got to be a groundskeeper for a day at Shea Stadium.
It’s a fantastic read. Among the things you will learn about Shea:
– The outfield grass is kept at seven-eighths of an inch, down from 1 1/4 inches a few years ago, because the Mets want to emphasize speed.
– Ever wonder how they get those stripes and patterns in the outfield grass? The color of the stripes depends on the mower path: a dark stripe indicates that the grass has been mown toward you; a light stripe indicates that it has been mown away from you.
– Home plate and the pitcher’s mound are heavy clay. The infield dirt is 60 percent sand, 25 percent clay and 15 percent silt.
– Grounds crew guys get paid around $21/hour.
Now how do I mow the NY Mets insignia into my front lawn?
Loge13 luminary Ross Jones sent this fantastic clip: George Carlin on Kiner's Korner.
We've been told that there is no official archive of Kiner's Korner. But some good folks are finding clips on their old video tapes and sharing. According to the poster of this clip: "An August 1989 visit by the late George Carlin to a rain delay
edition of Kiner's Korner. Carlin was doing a gig in Boston that
weekend and flew down for the day to take in the Mets adn Cardinals at
Shea. He went back to Boston and did his shows that night. This is one
of the final episodes of Kiner's Korner as Mets GM Frank Cashen killed
the show at the end of the 1989 season."
At 36 yo i love seeing that clip now as when i was 17 back in the day in the late 80's as a yankee fan, Kiner's Korner was the best on both sides...Ch 9 NYC was great...
Welcome to the first-ever Loge13.com contest. 
Here is the latest press release regarding Willets Point redevelopment. 
The New York Times 
I would like to see just how much of that nearly $1 billion in economic activity that the WPIRA claims. It's been my experience that the crime families (I mean legitimate businessmen), offer some VERY steep cash discounts. I'm sure they report all that income.