Sports Manhattan

madison square garden home rangers, knicks , liberty



the skating pond in central park, 1862

manhattan home nba s new york knicks, nhl s new york rangers, , wnba s new york liberty, play home games @ madison square garden, major professional sports arena in borough. new york jets proposed west side stadium home field, proposal defeated in june 2005, leaving them @ metlife stadium in east rutherford, new jersey.

manhattan borough in new york city not have professional baseball franchise. bronx has yankees (american league) , queens has mets (national league) of major league baseball. minor league baseball brooklyn cyclones play in brooklyn, while staten island yankees play in staten island. however, 3 of 4 major league baseball teams play in new york city played in manhattan. original new york giants baseball team played in various incarnations of polo grounds @ 155th street , eighth avenue inception in 1883—except 1889, when split time between jersey city , staten island, , when played in hilltop park in 1911—until headed west brooklyn dodgers after 1957 season. new york yankees began franchise highlanders, named hilltop park, played creation in 1903 until 1912. team moved polo grounds 1913 season, officially christened new york yankees, remaining there until moved across harlem river in 1923 yankee stadium. new york mets played in polo grounds in 1962 , 1963, first 2 seasons, before shea stadium completed in 1964. after mets departed, polo grounds demolished in april 1964, replaced public housing.

the first national college-level basketball championship, national invitation tournament, held in new york in 1938 , remains in city. new york knicks started play in 1946 1 of national basketball association s original teams, playing first home games @ 69th regiment armory, before making madison square garden permanent home. new york liberty of wnba have shared garden knicks since creation in 1997 1 of league s original 8 teams. rucker park in harlem playground court, famed streetball style of play, many nba athletes have played in summer league.

though both of new york city s football teams play today across hudson river in metlife stadium in east rutherford, new jersey, both teams started out playing in polo grounds. new york giants played side-by-side baseball namesakes time entered national football league in 1925, until crossing on yankee stadium in 1956. new york jets, known titans, started out in 1960 @ polo grounds, staying there 4 seasons before joining mets in queens in 1964.

the new york rangers of national hockey league have played in various locations of madison square garden since team s founding in 1926–1927 season. rangers predated new york americans, started play in garden previous season, lasting until team folded after 1941–1942 nhl season, season played in garden brooklyn americans.

the new york cosmos of north american soccer league played home games @ downing stadium 2 seasons, starting in 1974. in 1975, team signed pelé, officially recorded fifa world s greatest soccer player, $4.5 million contract, drawing capacity crowd of 22,500 watch him lead team 2–0 victory. playing pitch , facilities @ downing stadium in dreadful condition though , team s popularity grew left yankee stadium, , giants stadium. stadium demolished in 2002 make way $45 million, 4,754-seat icahn stadium, includes olympic-standard 400-meter running track and, part of pele s , cosmos legacy, includes fifa-approved floodlit soccer stadium hosts matches between 48 youth teams of manhattan soccer club.