Olympic Stadium in Queens

Shea Stadium may in a few years be replaced by Olympic Stadium. Mayor Bloomberg and the Mets have reached a plan to open a new stadium in 2009 for the baseball team, a stadium which would host the 2012 Olympics if New York wins its Olympic bid (Newsday coverage).

The plan came together quickly over the weekend when the plan for a West Side Stadium fell apart. The new Shea would have far-reaching impact on Flushing Meadows and the nearby communities, especially Willets Point and downtown Flushing.

The area has a history of transforming for big events. Flushing Meadows Corona Park, the stadium site, came into being for the 1938 World's Fair from an ash heap that F. Scott Fitzgerald called the "Valley of Ashes." It was later completed for the 1964 World's Fair. In the late 1940s some of the first UN sessions were held in what is now the park's indoor ice skating rink.