Archives of the Mayor's Press Office

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani today joined the Take the Field organization to dedicate the new $2.5 million outdoor athletic facilities at George Washington High School in Washington Heights. The project, consisting of a baseball, football and soccer field and running track, is the first project to be completed as part of the $100 million Take the Field program to rebuild more than 50 public high school athletic facilities in the City's five boroughs. Six additional facilities will be completed by June 30. Another seven are currently being designed, with construction to begin by August 1. Mayor Giuliani recently pledged $75 million in funding in the form of a three-to-one challenge grant, to enable Take the Field to reconstruct the 52 school athletic facilities.

"The importance of athletics in the lives of high school students should not be underestimated," Mayor Giuliani said. "Take the Field's efforts to repair and rebuild public high school athletic facilities will have a positive and lasting impact on students' lives. This public-private partnership will help our City's public high school students to apply the lessons learned on the field to the challenges they encounter in life."

More than a dozen sports stars from all New York area teams, Broadway celebrities, and other notables joined student-athletes from the high school for a two-inning softball game. Mayor Giuliani threw out the first ball to mark the Take the Field dedication.

Among the notables who played were: Take the Field Co-Founder and Chairman Bob Tisch, Schools Chancellor Harold Levy, New York Yankees Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, and Mariano Rivera; TV and Broadway star Henry Winkler; New York Knicks legend and New Jersey Nets executive Willis Reed; New York Giants Hall of Famer Frank Gifford; NY Jets legend Marty Lyons; Ed Charles, third baseman from the 1969 World Series Champion Mets; Steve Jolley and Mark Semioli, all-stars from the NY/NJ MetroStars; NY Liberty and international women's basketball star Kym Hampton, who sang the National Anthem; Olympic track gold medalist Diane Dixon; fencing champion Aki Spencer-El, who represented the U.S. in the 2000 Summer Olympics; Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik and Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen.

"Today marks an historic milestone in one of the most ambitious and critically-important undertakings benefiting New York City schoolchildren in more than a quarter-century," said Take the Field co-founder and chairman Bob Tisch. "Today, we are demonstrating that a private-public partnership is the ideal vehicle for rebuilding our public school system. Indeed, this is a home run for school athletics in New York for all the student-athletes currently at New York's public high schools, and the countless thousands who will play school sports in the future."

"This is a field of dreams come true," said longtime GWHS coach and athletic director Steve Mandl, whose students have included superstar Manny Ramirez of the Boston Red Sox and budding star Alex Arias of the San Diego Padres. "Baseball in Washington Heights has saved so many young men, and the new field will inspire more kids to play and open many more doors to life for them. Indeed, Every time I look at the field I have to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming. Take the Field has created an oasis for the school and the community, one that is irreplaceable in magnitude. We thank the Take the Field organization for the wonderful contribution to our school and community."

Take the Field
Take the Field was created last July by Bob Tisch, co-chairman of Loews Corporation and co-owner of the New York Giants football team, and urban planner/builder Richard Kahan, chairman of The Urban Assembly and former chairman of both the New York State Urban Development Corp. and Battery Park City Authority; and community leader/philanthropist Tony Kiser, president of the William and Mary Greve Foundation.

The GWHS project was the first in Take the Field's pilot program. Other projects to follow include the outdoor athletic facilities of Seward Park High School in Lower Manhattan, William C. Bryant High School and Far Rockaway High School in Queens, Brooklyn Technical High School, South Bronx High School, and Port Richmond High School in Staten Island. Each will be completed by June 30.

The GWHS facility was designed by Jack Gordon, chief architect of the New York Mets. TDX Construction Corporation managed the project.

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