Ebbets Field flagpole commemorated at Barclays Center ceremony
In celebration of the triumphant return of major professional sports to Brooklyn, Barclays Center and the Brooklyn Nets held a ceremony today to commemorate the new home of an Ebbets Field flagpole that stands outside of Barclays Center.
The event was attended by Sharon Robinson, the daughter of legendary Brooklyn Dodger Jackie Robinson, Brooklyn Nets player Jerry Stackhouse, who wears Jackie Robinson’s No. 42 on his uniform, Barclays Center Majority Owner and Developer Bruce Ratner, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, and Barclays Center and Brooklyn Nets CEO Brett Yormark.
After the Dodgers’ former home, Ebbets Field, was demolished in 1960, the flagpole was later donated to a VFW post on Utica Avenue in the Brooklyn neighborhood of East Flatbush. It stood at that site, which later became the Canarsie Casket Company and then a church, until Bruce Ratner secured the historic flagpole in 2007, with the goal of positioning it at his planned arena in Brooklyn, which opened in September of this year. It was Borough President Markowitz who had alerted Ratner about the availability of the flagpole.
At today’s ceremony, the American flag and a Brooklyn Nets flag were raised on the restored flagpole and a plaque signifying the history of the flagpole was unveiled.