Construction crews began tearing down one big piece of Giants/Jets Wednesday night.
The Press Box of the Old Giants Stadium was pulled down by six giant (no pun intended) excavating machines.
The $10 million-plus demolition project will take about four months when all is said and done, with the seats and sod being sold as memorabilia. Much of the concrete is being used to fill a 14-foot hole where the field is currently located.
The Jets and Giants are set to move into a yet to be named new stadium next door later this fall. The new stadium will seat 82,500 fans, including 9,500 club seats and 222 luxury suites. It will be the NFL's third-largest stadium.
Vincent Parziale, the chief executive of Gramercy, the wrecking and environmental contractors taking down the stadium, said that Giants Stadium cannot be imploded because it is too close to the new structure, which is a 30-yard pass away.
The demolition of the more than 30-year old former Giants Stadium should be finished by the end of May. The space it occupied will be used for a parking lot. A Bon Jovi concert in late May will officially open the stadium.
Frank Amicizia, Gramercy's vice president, said when the project first began in February that the demolition job was special.
"We're demolishing a piece of history," said Amicizia, whose fondest memory of Giants Stadium was the first time he took his son to a game. "We're just happy to be the ones doing it, especially being a (Westbury) New York-based contractor."
