Not Yankee Stadium.

In July I had the privilege of circling/flying/gawking over Yankee Stadium, at blimp-height, on the night of the All-Star game-with the game in progress-on our way into LaGuardia. Very impressive. There were very few other places I would have rather been flying that night. We flew straight up the Hudson and made a right turn around the stadium, at night, at fairly low altitude. New York is an impressive city from that perspective. I know I will never forget it.

But I've been to New York many times, and seen many different things. Yankee Stadium, Shea Stadium, and, yeah, the rest of it. It's all impressive, don't get me wrong, but it's all been plastered all over postcards, tv shows, movies, etc. I've seen it. I may not have been there but I've seen it.

Last week, while leaving LaGuardia, as I glance down at Yankee Stadium, my eye catches something along the shore of the Hudson. There was a football field. In the Hudson. Well, actually built out on the Hudson River in typical New York Concrete fashion. As I look closer I can see a little more, some b-ball courts, park area, a few buildings. It doesn't really look like a typical college football stadium, but then, nothing in New York is typical. I had to know.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=yankee+stadium&ie=UTF8&ll=40.824916,-73.956807&spn=0.007355,0.013819&t=k&z=16

For those of you who haven't figured it out yet. Riverbank State Park. The only State Park on the island of Manhattan. And all that fancy architecture and concrete coming out of the river...well that would be the North River Wastewater Treatment Plant. I'm probably not going to visit this one.