Downing Stadium, previously known as Triborough Stadium and Randall's Island Stadium, was a 22,000-seat stadium in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. It was renamed Downing Stadium in 1955 after John J. Downing, a director at the

New York City Department of Parks and Recreation The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolog ...

. It was demolished in 2002 and the current

Icahn Stadium Icahn Stadium is a 5,000 seat track and field and multipurpose facility located on Randalls Island in Manhattan, New York City. Designed within the former site of Downing Stadium, it opened on April 23, 2005. Icahn Stadium is named after Ame ...

was built on the site.

Overview

Track and field

Built on

Randalls Island Randalls Island (sometimes called Randall's Island) and Wards Island are conjoined islands, collectively called Randalls and Wards Islands, in New York County, New York City,

in the

East River The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Quee ...

as a

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project, 15,000 attendees witnessed

Jesse Owens James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games. Owens specialized in the sprints and the long jump and was recognized in his lifet ...

compete at the stadium in the Men's Olympic Trials on July 11, 1936, the opening night of the new facility. Downing Stadium also hosted the Women's Olympic Trials in 1964. Later the stadium hosted the

1991 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 1991 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships took place between June 13–15 at Downing Stadium on Randall's Island in New York City. This was the last USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships organized by The Athletics Congress. The follo ...

. The stadium was also used as a filming site for a ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) ...

'' segment about The Flashettes girls track team.

Football

Triborough Stadium served as one of two home stadiums of the football

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

of the second AFL (along with

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the orig ...

) in

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

and 1937. The first televised

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

game was held at Triborough on September 30, 1939, as Fordham took on Waynesburg. It was for many years the home of Cardinal Hayes High School football teams. NYU's football team also played its last two seasons at Triborough in 1951 and 1952. In 1966, the Continental Football League's Brooklyn Dodgers, unable to find a suitable field in Brooklyn (

Ebbets Field Ebbets Field was a Major League Baseball stadium in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York. It is mainly known for having been the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team of the National League (1913–1957). It was also home to five pro ...

had been torn down in 1960), played their home games at Downing. (Coincidentally, the football Dodgers wound up playing under the same lights used at Ebbets, as they had been moved to Randalls Island upon the older stadium's destruction.) The club would play only three games at Downing before the league took over the franchise and shifted their remaining home games elsewhere. Eight years later, Downing Stadium became the home of the New York Stars of the WFL; like the Dodgers, the Stars left the stadium before the season ended, shifting to

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

Soccer

Randalls Island was the site of three international soccer matches: the US team played

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

on Randalls Island on June 19, 1949, with the Scots winning, 4–0, with 17,000 in attendance; on May 27, 1964, the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

squad crushed the Americans, 10–0, in front of just 5,062 fans. Another friendly match took place in 1965 between the Argentine team CA Independiente, winners of the

1965 Copa Libertadores The 1965 Copa Libertadores de América was the sixth edition of South America's premier club football tournament. Colombia did not send a representative due to the disagreements between CONMEBOL and the Colombian football federation. This will bec ...

, and Spanish giants Real Madrid, five times champion of the European Cup at the time. The Hispanic teams drew 1–1 in front of 12,000 people. A friendly held at the stadium in July 1973 between Haiti and

Millonarios Millonarios Fútbol Club is a professional Colombian football team based in Bogotá, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the El Campín stadium. Millonarios was initially created in 1937 by students f ...

of Colombia was delayed for more than two hours and forty five minutes by Haitian exiles protesting against the

Duvalier Duvalier is a French and Haitian surname, and may refer to: * François Duvalier (1907–1971), nicknamed "Papa Doc", President of Haiti 1957–71 * Jean-Claude Duvalier Jean-Claude Duvalier (; 3 July 19514 October 2014), nicknamed "Baby Doc" ( h ...

regime. At one point, Haitian manager Antoine Tassy took his team to the dressing room and said that they were going home. He later made a call to Haitian Football Federation president Claude Raymond who told him to resume the match, if possible. Then, Serge Charles, a high-ranking member of the Haitian delegation to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

, arrived and made another call to Raymond, and the Haitians agreed to go back on the field. Police arrived and cordoned off the field. The

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Independ ...

of the NASL moved to Downing in 1974. On June 15, 1975, Pelé made his NASL debut against the Dallas Tornado, with areas of the field painted green to look better on television;

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

carried the game live. In 1976, the Cosmos moved out, back to

(where they had spent their debut season in 1971); for years afterward, the words "COSMOS SOCCER" remained on the stadium to be seen from the nearby highway viaduct on the

Triborough Bridge The Robert F. Kennedy Bridge (RFK Bridge; formerly known and still commonly referred to as the Triborough Bridge) is a complex of bridges and elevated expressway viaducts in New York City. The bridges link the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens, a ...

. Downing's last pro soccer tenant were the

New York Centaurs The New York Centaurs were an A-League professional soccer club, based in New York City. The team played only one season in 1995. The New York Fever of the USISL Pro League, debuted in 1994, playing two seasons in the league before merging with ...

of the A-League in 1995. The site was considered for a 48,000-seat capacity

soccer specific stadium Soccer-specific stadium is a term used mainly in the United States and Canada to refer to a sports stadium either purpose-built or fundamentally redesigned for soccer and whose primary function is to host soccer matches, as opposed to a multi-p ...

, based on the design of the City of Manchester Stadium, had the New York City bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics been successful. The plan was shelved when New York lost out to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Baseball

The stadium was also used for some Negro league baseball games in the 1930s; it was the home of the New York Black Yankees in 1938.

Rugby

The stadium also played host to the

rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union and rugby league. Canadian football and, to a lesser extent, American football were once considered forms of rugby football, but are seldom now referred to as such. The ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

several times, in the course of larger tours to Europe. They last played a New York Metropolitan selection in October 1972, beating their hosts 41–9.

Other sports

In October 1997, Downing played host to a Gaelic football match between Cavan and Kerry; the game was moved to New York in order to commemorate the 1947 All Ireland Final between the same teams played at the Polo Grounds. In May 1990, Downing hosted an unofficial 30-overs a side cricket match between Pakistan and Australia with many regular international cricketers participating from both countries. Australia won the match by 5 runs.

Music

In 1938, the stadium hosted the

Carnival of Swing The Carnival of Swing was a music festival that took place on 29 May 1938 on Randall's Island, New York. It is considered the first outdoor jazz festival. Performing at the concert were twenty-five swing bands, including the Duke Ellington and Coun ...

, one of the first large outdoor jazz festivals. In August 1968, the New York Jazz Festival took place at Downing Stadium. Performers included

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...

, Dizzy Gillespie,

Miriam Makeba Zenzile Miriam Makeba (4 March 1932 – 9 November 2008), nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist. Associated with musical genres including Afropop, jazz, and world music, she w ...

, and

Mongo Santamaria Mongo may refer to: Geography Africa * Mongo, Chad, a Sahel city * Apostolic Vicariate of Mongo (Roman Catholic missionary jurisdiction) * Mongo, Sierra Leone, a chiefdom * Mongo River (Little Scarces River), Guinea and Sierra Leone, a tributa ...

. On August 31, 1968, T.P. Productions presented N.Y. City Fun Festival at Downing, which included performances by

Sam & Dave Sam & Dave were an American soul and R&B duo who performed together from 1961 until 1981. The tenor (higher) voice was Sam Moore (born 1935) and the baritone/tenor (lower) voice was Dave Prater (1937–1988). Nicknamed "Double Dynamite", "The ...

, Stevie Wonder,

Wilson Pickett Wilson Pickett (March 18, 1941 – January 19, 2006) was an American singer and songwriter. A major figure in the development of soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, many of which crossed over to the ''Bill ...

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shi ...

Arthur Conley Arthur Lee Conley (January 4, 1946 – November 17, 2003), also known in later years as Lee Roberts, was an American soul singer, best known for the 1967 hit " Sweet Soul Music". Early life Conley was born in McIntosh County, Georgia, U.S., an ...

Big Maybelle Mabel Louise Smith (May 1, 1924 – January 23, 1972), known professionally as Big Maybelle, was an American R&B singer. Her 1956 hit single " Candy" received the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999. Childhood and musical background Born in J ...

, and

the Mirettes The Mirettes were a female vocal trio composed of former members of the Ikettes in the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. History Robbie Montgomery, Venetta Fields and Jessie Smith were the first official incarnation of the Ikettes, a backing trio for ...

. After the triumph of

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aq ...

the previous year, the three-day New York Pop Festival tried to re-create its success in New York City, opening on Randalls Island on July 17, 1970. Unfortunately, the concert was a bust, as half the big name lineup failed to show up (although Jimi Hendrix performed a memorable set). What is more, the festival was picketed by several radical groups: some of the protesters demanded that a portion of the ticket sales go to worthy causes (even threatening the box office), while others wanted everyone to get in free. (This was partially accomplished when thousands of concert-goers literally crashed through the gates.) Once the stadium stopped being a major sports venue, Downing was used largely for concerts, serving as a venue for

rock concert A rock concert is a performance of rock music. During the 1950s, several American musical groups experimented with new musical forms that fused country music, blues, and swing genre to produce the earliest examples of "rock and roll." The coin ...

s such as Lollapalooza in 1994, Pearl Jam in 1996, and the Tibetan Freedom Concert in 1997.

Fate

The stadium was torn down in 2002 in order to be replaced by a newer, smaller complex,

, which was completed in 2004. This facility is used primarily for

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

References

{{Authority control Fordham Rams football Manhattan Jaspers football New York Cosmos New York Stars NYU Violets football Defunct college football venues Defunct American football venues in the United States Defunct soccer venues in the United States Defunct baseball venues in the United States Defunct sports venues in Manhattan Demolished sports venues in New York (state) Former sports venues in New York City American football venues in New York City Rugby union stadiums in New York City Soccer venues in New York City American Football League (1936) venues American Football League (1940) venues North American Soccer League (1968–1984) stadiums Negro league baseball venues World Football League venues Randalls and Wards Islands Robert Moses projects Sports venues completed in 1936 Sports venues demolished in 2002 1936 establishments in New York City 2002 disestablishments in New York (state)