Dear Mr. Hagan,

Thank you again for your patience while we compile the documents you requested under the Freedom of Information Law. We will forward relevant material in the near future.

In the meantime, we would like to thank you for forwarding images of the balconies that were retrieved from the demolition of old Yankee Stadium. Partly in response to suggestions from the Committee of Commemorate old Yankee Stadium, we began weeks ago to explore options for salvaging these features from Gate 2. Unfortunately, our initial conclusion was that it would not be possible to remove these elements from the stadium wall prior to the “Cut and Pull” demolition of the Gate without adding unacceptable levels of time and cost to our project. All the same, we directed the City’s contractor to salvage these elements if possible during the deconstruction process. We decided not to publicize this effort because it was unclear if the balconies would survive the process and we did not wish to raise false hopes.

As you now know, the three balconies survived the toppling of the wall and were set aside by the contractors. Two of the balconies sustained only minimal damage. The third has more extensive damage. We have inventoried these elements and will temporarily store them off-site at a Parks Department facility.

We are currently exploring the possibility of incorporating the balconies into our landscape plan for Heritage Field, where they could be identified as part of our overall package of interpretive elements. Although no final decisions have been made, we want to be clear that we will make every effort to find appropriate locations to display these items, whether within the park, or off-site at a museum.

We appreciate your perseverance and dedication to the commemoration of the old stadium. Please feel free to stay in touch with us over the next few months; we will be happy to share our plans for the balconies as they develop.


Sincerely,

Joshua Laird - NYC Parks Department