Shea Stadium Park

Address: Former site of Shea Stadium, Willets Point, Flushing (Queens), New York, USA

Shea Stadium was a multiuse stadium in Flushing, Queens, New York, that served as the home of the New York Mets from 1964 to 2008. It was named after baseball promoter William Shea and was a major sports venue for several decades.

During its operational years the stadium offered a large seating bowl for baseball and hosted concerts and other large-scale events, with a seating capacity in the range of tens of thousands. After the Mets moved to the adjacent Citi Field, Shea Stadium was decommissioned and subsequently demolished.

The stadium opened in 1964 to provide a permanent home for the expansion New York Mets and later hosted a range of sporting and entertainment events; it closed after the 2008 season and was demolished in 2009. The site was redeveloped in connection with the new ballpark and surrounding facilities.

Located in the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park area of Queens, the former stadium site lies within New York City’s borough of Queens, near major road and subway connections to Manhattan and beyond.

• Dates and status: Opened in 1964 and closed after the 2008 baseball season; the structure was demolished in 2009 and the site is now redeveloped as part of the Citi Field complex area.
• Primary use: Home stadium of the New York Mets from 1964 through 2008 and a venue for major concerts and events during its operation.

The former Shea Stadium site is in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens (the Mets now play at nearby Citi Field). The quickest public-transit access is the NYC Subway 7 train to Mets-Willets Point; on weekends and event days the Long Island Rail Road also serves Mets-Willets Point from Penn Station. By car use the Grand Central Parkway or I‑678 (Van Wyck Expressway) to reach parking around the park; driving distance from Midtown Manhattan is roughly 10-12 miles. From Mets-Willets Point station the site is a few minutes’ walk.