Editing Manhattan (section)

==Sports==
[[File:Madison_Square_Garden_(MSG)_-_Full_(48124330357).jpg|thumb|[[Madison Square Garden]], home to the [[New York Rangers]] of the [[National Hockey League]] and the [[New York Knicks]] of the [[National Basketball Association]]]]
Manhattan is home to the [[National Basketball Association|NBA]]'s [[New York Knicks]] and the [[National Hockey League|NHL]]'s [[New York Rangers]], both of which play their home games at [[Madison Square Garden]], the only major professional [[sports arena]] in the borough.<ref>Ozanian, Mike. [https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2023/02/07/dolans-msg-sports-says-its-open-to-selling-stakes-in-the-knicks-or-rangers/?sh=ae602855f6e0 "Dolan's MSG Sports Says It's Open To Selling Stakes In The Knicks Or Rangers"], ''[[Forbes]]'', February 7, 2023. Accessed December 28, 2023. "The Knicks and Rangers play in Madison Square Garden, which is owned by publicly traded MSG Entertainment, also run by Dolan."</ref> The Garden was also home to the [[Women's National Basketball Association|WNBA]]'s [[New York Liberty]] through the [[2017 New York Liberty season|2017 season]], but that team's primary home is now the [[Barclays Center]] in [[Brooklyn]]. The [[New York Jets]] proposed a [[West Side Stadium]] for their home field, but the proposal was defeated in June 2005, and they now play at [[MetLife Stadium]] in [[East Rutherford, New Jersey]].<ref>{{cite web | author=Curbed | title=How the New York Jets Very Nearly Got a West Side Stadium | website=Curbed NY | date=January 30, 2015 | url=https://ny.curbed.com/2015/1/30/9997132/how-the-new-york-jets-very-nearly-got-a-west-side-stadium | access-date=April 12, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180412212136/https://ny.curbed.com/2015/1/30/9997132/how-the-new-york-jets-very-nearly-got-a-west-side-stadium | archive-date=April 12, 2018 | url-status=live }}</ref>

Manhattan does not currently host a [[professional baseball]] franchise. The original [[History of the New York Giants (baseball)|New York Giants]] played primarily in the various incarnations of the [[Polo Grounds]] from their inception in 1883 until they headed to California with the [[History of the Brooklyn Dodgers|Brooklyn Dodgers]] after the 1957 season.<ref>[http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/sf/history/ballparks.jsp Giants Ballparks: 1883&nbsp;– present] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527021858/http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/sf/history/ballparks.jsp |date=May 27, 2011 }}, [[MLB.com]]. Accessed May 8, 2007.</ref> The New York Yankees began their [[History of the New York Yankees|franchise]] as the Highlanders, named for [[Hilltop Park]], where they played from their creation in 1903 until 1912.<ref>Lamb, Bill. [https://sabr.org/bioproj/park/hilltop-park-new-york/ Hilltop Park (New York)], [[Society for American Baseball Research]]. Accessed December 28, 2023. "Unloved and short-lived – it served as a baseball venue for only ten years – scant tears were shed when the confines passed from the major-league scene after the 1912 season. Yet without Hilltop Park, the American League would have been unable to secure a foothold in New York City. And the fortunes of the game's dominant franchise might well have played out far differently."</ref> The team moved to the Polo Grounds with the 1913 season, where they were officially christened the ''New York Yankees'', remaining there until they moved across the [[Harlem River]] in 1923 to [[Yankee Stadium (1923)|Yankee Stadium]].<ref>[http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/nyy/history/ballparks.jsp Yankee Ballparks: 1903&nbsp;– present] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100319011203/http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/nyy/history/ballparks.jsp |date=March 19, 2010 }}, [[MLB.com]]. Accessed May 8, 2007.</ref> The [[New York Mets]] played in the Polo Grounds in 1962 and 1963, their first two seasons, before [[Shea Stadium]] was completed in 1964.<ref>[http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/nym/history/ballparks.jsp Mets Ballparks: 1962&nbsp;– present] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110309095941/http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/nym/history/ballparks.jsp |date=March 9, 2011 }}, [[MLB.com]]. Accessed May 8, 2007.</ref> After the Mets departed, the Polo Grounds was demolished in April 1964.<ref>[[John Drebinger|Drebinger, John]]. [https://www.nytimes.com/1964/01/05/archives/the-polo-grounds-18891964-a-lifetime-of-memories-ball-park-in.html "The Polo Grounds, 1889–1964: A Lifetime of Memories; Ball Park in Harlem Was Scene of Many Sports Thrills"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', January 5, 1964. Accessed December 28, 2023. "With this move, the Mets committed themselves, come hell or high water right out of Flushing Bay, to open their 1964 National League season next April in Shea Stadium, their new home in Flushing Meadow. At the same time, the City Housing Authority announced it meant to lose no time putting into operation its housing development that is to go up on the site now occupied by the Polo Grounds."</ref><ref>[[Martin Arnold (journalist)|Arnold, Martin]]. [https://www.nytimes.com/1964/04/11/archives/neath-coogans-bluff-hammers-fall-where-giants-stood-10-feet-tall.html "Ah, Polo Grounds, The Game is Over; Wreckers Begin Demolition for Housing Project"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', April 11, 1964. Accessed December 28, 2023. "Thus began the demolition of the Polo Grounds yesterday.... After demolition is completed, the site will be used for a $30 million low‐rent, public housing project. In the project, 1,614 families will live in four 30-story buildings, will attend schooI and will use the project's children center, play area, community center and child welfare station."</ref>

The first national college-level basketball championship, the [[National Invitation Tournament]], was held in New York in 1938 and remains in the city.<ref>[http://www.nit.org/history/nit-history.html History of the National Invitation Tournament] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100629012509/http://www.nit.org/history/nit-history.html |date=June 29, 2010 }}, [[National Invitation Tournament]]. Accessed May 8, 2007. "Tradition. The NIT is steeped in it. The nation's oldest postseason collegiate basketball tournament was founded in 1938."</ref> The [[New York Knicks]] started play in 1946 as one of the [[National Basketball Association]]'s original teams, playing their first home games at the [[69th Regiment Armory]], before making Madison Square Garden their permanent home.<ref>[http://www.nba.com/knicks/history/new-york-knickerbocker-history/ The Knickerbocker Story] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190913230403/https://www.nba.com/knicks/history/new-york-knickerbocker-history/ |date=September 13, 2019 }}, [[NBA.com]]. Accessed November 20, 2016.</ref> The [[New York Liberty]] of the [[Women's National Basketball Association|WNBA]] shared the Garden with the Knicks from their creation in 1997 as one of the league's original eight teams through the 2017 season,<ref>[http://www.wnba.com/liberty/news/history_timeline.html The New York Liberty Story] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110829212529/http://www.wnba.com/liberty/news/history_timeline.html |date=August 29, 2011 }}, [[Women's National Basketball Association]]. Accessed May 8, 2007.</ref> after which the team moved nearly all of its home schedule to [[White Plains, New York]].<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://www.wnba.com/news/new-york-liberty-play-westchester-county-center-2018-season/ |title=New York Liberty To Play At Westchester County Center For 2018 Season |publisher=WNBA |date=February 8, 2018 |access-date=October 28, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906090506/http://www.wnba.com/news/new-york-liberty-play-westchester-county-center-2018-season/ |archive-date=September 6, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Rucker Park]] in [[Harlem]] is a playground court, famed for its ''[[streetball]]'' style of play, where many NBA athletes have played in the summer league.<ref>[http://www.tqnyc.org/2002/NYC00157//BestBasketballPlayers/Rucker%20Park.htm Rucker Park] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430114506/http://www.tqnyc.org/2002/NYC00157/BestBasketballPlayers/Rucker%20Park.htm |date=April 30, 2009 }}, ThinkQuest New York City. Accessed June 30, 2009.</ref>

Although both of New York City's football teams play today in [[MetLife Stadium]] in [[East Rutherford, New Jersey]], both teams started out playing in the Polo Grounds. The [[New York Giants]] played side-by-side with their baseball namesakes from the time they entered the [[National Football League]] in 1925, until crossing over to Yankee Stadium in 1956.<ref>[http://www.profootballhof.com/news/home-sweet-home/ "Home Sweet Home"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191211191032/https://www.profootballhof.com/news/home-sweet-home/ |date=December 11, 2019 }}, [[Pro Football Hall of Fame]], September 10, 2010. Accessed November 20, 2016. "The Giants shared the Polo Grounds with the New York Baseball Giants from the time they entered the league in 1925 until 1955."</ref> The New York Jets, originally known as the ''Titans of New York'', started out in 1960 at the Polo Grounds, before joining the Mets in Queens at [[Shea Stadium]] in 1964.<ref>[http://www.stadiumsofnfl.com/past/SheaStadium.htm Stadiums of The NFL: Shea Stadium] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070516042949/http://www.stadiumsofnfl.com/past/SheaStadium.htm |date=May 16, 2007 }}, Stadiums of the NFL. Accessed May 8, 2007.</ref>

The [[New York Rangers]] of the [[National Hockey League]] have played in the various locations of Madison Square Garden since the team's founding in the 1926–1927 season. The Rangers were predated by the [[New York Americans]], who started play in the Garden the previous season, lasting until the team folded after the 1941–1942 NHL season, a season it played in the Garden as the ''Brooklyn Americans''.<ref>[http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nhl/nya/nyamericans.html New York Americans] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100918232759/http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nhl/nya/nyamericans.html |date=September 18, 2010 }}, Sports Encyclopedia. Accessed May 8, 2007.</ref>

The [[New York Cosmos (1971–1985)|New York Cosmos]] of the [[North American Soccer League (1968–1984)|North American Soccer League]] played their home games at [[Downing Stadium]] for two seasons, starting in 1974. The playing pitch and facilities at Downing Stadium were in unsatisfactory condition, however, and as the team's popularity grew they too left for Yankee Stadium, and then Giants Stadium. The stadium was demolished in 2002 to make way for the $45&nbsp;million, 4,754-seat [[Icahn Stadium]].<ref>Collins, Glenn. [https://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/20/nyregion/built-for-speed-and-local-pride-track-stadium-emerges-on-randalls-island.html "Built for Speed, And Local Pride; Track Stadium Emerges On Randalls Island"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328070751/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/20/nyregion/built-for-speed-and-local-pride-track-stadium-emerges-on-randalls-island.html |date=March 28, 2019 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'', August 20, 2004. Accessed June 30, 2009.</ref><ref>[http://home2.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.c0935b9a57bb4ef3daf2f1c701c789a0/index.jsp?pageID=mayor_press_release&catID=1194&doc_name=http%3A%2F%2Fhome2.nyc.gov%2Fhtml%2Fom%2Fhtml%2F2004a%2Fpr021-04.html&cc=unused1978&rc=1194&ndi=1 "Mayor Michael Bloomberk, Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe and the Randall's Island Sports Foundation Name New York City's Newest Athletic Facility Icahn Stadium"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416192234/http://home2.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.c0935b9a57bb4ef3daf2f1c701c789a0/index.jsp?pageID=mayor_press_release&catID=1194&doc_name=http%3A%2F%2Fhome2.nyc.gov%2Fhtml%2Fom%2Fhtml%2F2004a%2Fpr021-04.html&cc=unused1978&rc=1194&ndi=1 |date=April 16, 2019 }}, [[Mayor of New York City]] press release, dated January 28, 2004. Accessed September 24, 2007.</ref>