the old polo grounds

Yesterday I had to visit a site we're about to reconstruct. It hasn't had any work done since it was built in 1913. This site used to feature a bridge that connected to the Polo Grounds, where the NY Giants (baseball, not football) once played. The Polo Grounds and the bridge are long gone, replaced by housing projects. But a staircase connecting this site to the rest of the world and an open area where the bridge once landed are still there, although the staircase is far too dilapidated to be open. So now we're rebuilding the staircase and fixing up the landscape around it.

Right now the site is mainly used by taxi drivers on break. There's a food truck that does a brisk business on the curb there (I can report they have outstanding passionfruit juice).



















The drivers were really happy to hear we were fixing up the space. In this photo you can see the old staircase in the background (if you look closely you can see me walking down).



















The staircase is pretty beat up, but it still works, if you dodge the holes and don't fall off the sides.



















This treasure is on the midway landing. We're refurbishing this and incorporating it into the new staircase.



















Here I am with Tristan Porto, the young hotshot designer who will run the landscape side of this project.



















Alex the Aged Veteran offers some sage advice to Tristan the Young Grasshopper. Or am I just striking a disco pose?