John T. Brush Stairway

Let's try this one again! 

The John T. Brush Stairway runs through Highbridge Park from the top of Coogan's Bluff at Edgecombe Ave. down to the Harlem River Drive below at about 158th Street.  The stairway is closed off now, as it is in disrepair, but for the first half of the 20th century it served to carry people down to the Polo Grounds, home to the baseball and football New York Giants as well as the original home of the New York Mets.  The original home of the baseball Giants, 111th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues, is close to where I live. 

John T. Brush owned the Giants from 1890 until he died in 1912.  The original Polo Grounds at this location was a wooden structure that burned down on April14th, 1911.  Brush rebuilt the stadium in concrete and steel in time for the Giants to play the Athletics in the 1911 World Series.  Incredibly, the new stadium was sufficiently completed that it opened on June 28th.  The stairway is the last remaining part of the stadium.

I discovered it years ago on my first bike ride to work after moving into the city.  I had taken the wrong turn and, being the stubborn sort, found it more acceptable to climb up the stairs than to backtrack.  Having to toss your bicycle over a fence is not the greatest feeling in the world.

Comments

[Richard]

I too discovered the stairway by accident... sort of. One of my hobbies is traveling around the country visiting major and minor league ballparks. Part of that is also going to the location of team's previous stadiums, whether they're still there or not. I went up to the Polo Grounds to see if I could find where home plate used to be. While in the middle of the apartment complex I looked up and saw Coogan's Bluff, which I had read about in various baseball histories. So I trekked up there to check it out.

When I got up there I noticed an area where a few catering trucks were parked. The roach coach drivers were all sort of hanging out in a little park area. After I purchased a soda from one of the trucks I sat on a little bench and looked around. That's when I spotted the staircase.

The staircase is old and shabby, and seems to have gotten worse in the last couple of years (I've been back a number of times now). The last time I visited they had a chain-link fence put up at both ends to discourage people from climbing.

I am glad to hear the city is planning to restore the staircase and not destroy it.

[fanny funny]

a great story and a happy reminder that not everything in the history of NYC has been destroyed.

[funny jones]

The city needs to restore this staircase. It's a shame it took so many decades for the city to recognize the extent of the vandalism of the 50s and 60s -- ebbets gone! polo gone! penn station gone!

[manny ringo]

let's hope the city finds the money to rebuild this staircase. rebuilding the polo gds would be nice too.

[Nathan P. Walters]

Those are great stories. Chicago is a city where you can happen across some great stuff in the same way too... I used to take casual strolls in misty, ugly weather just to accidentally find things i wouldn't have found if it hadn't been raining...

One day I happened upon a garage at the end of an alley that had become a home to the old signage from the hay-day of 1950s State Street window shopping... Thats also how I happened across little 2 room museums like Chicago's Labor History Museum...

Finding something like those stairs is something that stays with you for a life-time...