The new Yankee Stadium. (Photo by Rachel Senatore)

A sell-out crowd of almost 48,000 fans filed into the brand new $1.5 billion Yankee Stadium for Opening Day on April 16. So much for home-field advantage—the Yankees fell to the Cleveland Indians with a humiliating 10-2 loss.

But at least they have a home field.

The stadium now sits upon the former Macombs Dam Park, the former home field for All Hallows High School, a small Catholic school located just blocks away from their major league neighbors. New York City plowed over the twenty-two acres of Bronx parkland to make way for the Yankees’ new digs in August 2006.

For three years, the All Hallows’ baseball, soccer and track teams searched the city for a place to play. The circumstances forced them to become a band of reluctant road warriors, playing their home games on opponents’ fields.

“It’s just very frustrating,” principal and team coach Sean Sullivan said. “They’ve affected our school. But we have to adapt, adjust and improvise.”

The Parks Department promised to build All Hallows and the surrounding community replacement fields on the footprint of the old stadium. Originally, they scheduled a start date in 2008. They since pushed back completion of the project until 2010.

The Yankees gave Sullivan a 600-pound pitching machine from the old Yankee Stadium. However, it is to heavy to move out of the closet. (Photo by Rachel Senatore)

New Yorkers React To New Stadium

When asked on Opening Day about the Yankees’ treatment of the surrounding Bronx neighborhood, visiting fans voiced their overwhelming disappointment.

“It’s horrible,” said Kevin Corrigan, 55, from Queens. “They did nothing for the community except make money for themselves.”

On April 18, in the midst of the Yankees’ Opening Weekend, local residents parked themselves in front of the old stadium in protest of team’s broken promises.

Fans of the Bronx Bombers have mixed opinions on what to do with the old stadium. While there’s no love loss for the original House That Ruth Built, many believe the community deserves the restoration of their lost grasslands.

Click on the arrow to hear the varying opinions of the New York Yankees faithful:
[audio:http://cdn.journalism.cuny.edu/blogs.dir/132/files/2009/04/yankees_1-22.mp3]

By Maya Pope-Chappell, Nicholas Martinez, Rachel Senatore, Alex Green IV and Lois DeSocio