Polo Grounds

The 1944 NFL Championship Game was the 12th National Football League (NFL) title game, played on December 17 at the Polo Grounds in New York City, with an attendance of 46,016. The game featured the Green Bay Packers (8–2), champions of the Western Division versus the Eastern Division champion New York Giants (8–1–1).The Packers were led by longtime head coach Curly Lambeau and its stars were running back Ted Fritsch, end Don Hutson, and quarterback Irv Comp. The Giants were led by head coach Steve Owen, running back Bill Paschal, former Packers quarterback Arnie Herber, and a dominant defense. The Packers were slight favorites, despite the Giants' 24–0 shutout win four weeks earlier. Prior to the game, the Packers had spent over a week preparing in Charlottesville, Virginia; they had completed their regular season on November 26, while the Giants finished on December 10. If the title game ended in a tie, the teams would share the championship.Green Bay scored two touchdowns in the second quarter then yielded one early in the fourth to win 14–7 for their sixth and final league title under Lambeau, their first since 1939.The Packers did not return to the championship game for sixteen years, and won the following year in 1961, the first of five titles in seven seasons in the 1960s under head coach Vince Lombardi.

The 1934 NFL Championship Game, also known as the Sneakers Game, was the second scheduled National Football League (NFL) championship game. Played at the Polo Grounds in New York City on December 9, it was the first title game for the newly created Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy. With a remarkable fourth quarter, the New York Giants defeated the Chicago Bears 30–13.

The 1946 NFL Championship Game was the 14th annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL), played December 15 at the Polo Grounds in New York City, with a record-breaking attendance of 58,346. The game matched the New York Giants (7–3–1), champions of the Eastern Division, against the Western Division champion Chicago Bears (8–2–1). The Giants had won the regular season game 14–0 at the Polo Grounds seven weeks earlier on October 27, but the Bears were seven to ten point favorites. This was the fifth and final NFL Championship game played at the Polo Grounds and the fourth of six meetings between the Bears and Giants in the title game. Tied after three quarters, Chicago won 24–14 for their seventh NFL title, their fifth victory in eight NFL championship game appearances. The attendance record stood for another nine years, until the 1955 title game in Los Angeles.

The 1936 NFL Championship Game was the fourth championship game played in the National Football League (NFL). It took place on December 13 at Polo Grounds in New York City, making it the first NFL title game held on a neutral field.The Eastern Division champion Boston Redskins (7–5) were the home team, but their owner George Preston Marshall, the Packers and the league mutually agreed to move the game from Fenway Park to the Polo Grounds due to low ticket sales in Boston.Several days after the game, Marshall announced he would move the team to his hometown of Washington, D.C. for the following season.This was the first championship game for both the Redskins and the Western Division champion Green Bay Packers (10–1–1), who were favored. The Packers won 21–6 for their fourth NFL title, all under longtime head coach Curly Lambeau, having previously won league championships awarded by league standing in 1929, 1930, and 1931.

The 1938 NFL Championship Game was the sixth championship game played in the National Football League (NFL). It was played on December 11 at the Polo Grounds in New York City, with an attendance of 48,120, a record crowd for a title game.The game matched the New York Giants (8–2–1), champions of the Eastern Division, against the Western Division champion Green Bay Packers (8–3–0). The Giants had won the regular season game with Green Bay 15–3 at the Polo Grounds three weeks earlier on November 20, but Green Bay was without hall of fame end Don Hutson; there was no clear favorite for the title game.This was the Giants' fourth championship game appearance, their previous victory was in the famous "Sneakers game" of 1934 and they were runners-up in 1933 and 1935. It was the Packers' second trip, winning in 1936. New York also won the 1927 NFL title when the championship was awarded to the team with the best season record. Green Bay had similarly won three straight league titles in 1929, 1930, and 1931. At halftime, Packers head coach Curly Lambeau accidentally made a wrong turn going to the team's locker room and walked out of the Polo Grounds, locking himself out. Hurrying to the front gate, Lambeau tried to get back into the Grounds, but the guards at the gate believed Lambeau was a random fan and refused him entry. As Lambeau loudly protested, a couple of sportswriters inside heard the commotion, and identified Lambeau: the guards allowed him back in, by which time halftime was nearly over. After trailing by two points at halftime, Green Bay took the lead in the third quarter with a short field goal, but New York responded with a touchdown and held on through a scoreless fourth quarter to win, 23–17.With the victory, the Giants became the first team to win two Championship Games since the league was split into two divisions in 1933. The two teams met again in the Championship Game the following year in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with the Packers winning 27-0. Ed Danowski became the first Giants starting quarterback to win two NFL Championships for the team (the other is Eli Manning). The Giants' next title was in 1956, and was won at Yankee Stadium.

The 155th Street station was an elevated railway station in Manhattan, New York City, that operated from 1870 until 1958. It served as the north terminal of the IRT Ninth Avenue Line from its opening until 1918 and then as the southern terminal of a surviving stub portion from 1940 until its closure in 1958. It had two tracks and one island platform.

Greg Marius Court at Holcombe Rucker Park is a basketball court in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, at 155th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard, just east of the former Polo Grounds site. It is geographically at the base of a large cliff named Coogan's Bluff. Many who have played at the park in the Entertainer's Basketball Classic (also known as the Rucker Tournament) achieved a level of fame for their abilities, and several have gone on to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Coogan's Bluff is a promontory near the western shore of the Harlem River in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City. Its boundaries extend approximately from 155th Street and the Macombs Dam Bridge viaduct to 160th Street, between Edgecombe Avenue and the river. A deep escarpment descends 175 feet (53 m) from Edgecombe Avenue to the river, creating a sheltered area between the bluff and river known as Coogan's Hollow. For 73 years, the hollow was home to the Polo Grounds sports stadium.

The 155th Street station (155th Street–Eighth Avenue on some signage) is a local station on the IND Concourse Line of the New York City Subway. It is located at the intersection of the bi-level 155th Street's lower level and Frederick Douglass Boulevard, at the border of Harlem and the Coogan's Bluff section of Washington Heights neighborhoods of Manhattan. It is served by the D train at all times except rush hours in the peak direction and the B during rush hours only. The station opened in 1933, along with the rest of the Concourse Line.

The Hamilton Lodge Ball was an annual cross-dressing ball in Harlem, United States. The Lodge's ball in 1869 was recognized as the first drag ball in United States history. The Hamilton Lodge Ball reached the peak of its popularity in the 1920s and early 1930s, as the Harlem Renaissance and Pansy Craze drew wealthy white New Yorkers and celebrities into Harlem nightlife.

The Paul Robeson Residence, also known by its street address of 555 Edgecombe Avenue, is a National Historic Landmarked apartment building, located at 555 Edgecombe Avenue at the corner of West 160th Street in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was originally known as the "Roger Morris" when it was built in 1914-16 – after the retired British Army officer who built the nearby Morris-Jumel Mansion – and was designed by Schwartz & Gross, who specialized in apartment buildings. The building is architecturally relatively non-descript, with an exterior of brick and stone with nods to Beaux Arts architectural elements. It has thirteen floors and a penthouse. The main entrance is two stories in height, set in an arched opening with ironwork at the peak.For the first 25 years of its existence, the building was restricted to white tenants. Around 1940, as the racial characteristics of the neighborhood changed, this policy was dropped. Subsequently, the building became known for the noted African-American residents, including musician and composer Count Basie, boxer Joe Louis, musician Bruce Langhorne, musician and bandleader Andy Kirk, actor and producer Canada Lee, the psychologist Kenneth Clark, and the actor and singer Paul Robeson, a major figure of stage and screen who lived in the building from 1939 to 1941.After Robeson's death in 1976, the building was declared a National Historic Landmark in his honor. In 1993, it was designated a New York City landmark. Edgecombe Avenue has also been co-named "Paul Robeson Boulevard".

The Putnam Bridge was a swing bridge that spanned the Harlem River and the adjacent tracks of the New York Central Railroad in New York City. The bridge connected Harlem in Manhattan to Concourse, near the current location of Yankee Stadium, in the Bronx. It carried two tracks of the New York and Putnam Railroad, and later the 9th Avenue elevated line of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), as well as two pedestrian walkways outside the superstructure. The bridge opened to rail and pedestrian traffic on May 1, 1881, and operated until all rail service was discontinued on August 31, 1958. The bridge's extreme narrowness of 26 feet (7.9 m) between the centers of the trusses, combined with the proximity of the Macombs Dam Bridge, made it impractical and unnecessary to convert to a roadway bridge, and it was removed in 1960.