NEW HAVEN — Of the estimated 140,000 vehicles that whizzed by the giant horses and jockeys painted on the former Sports Haven video off-track-betting facility in the city’s Long Wharf section Tuesday, few if any stopped to witness the start of its demolition. But Tony Falcone was there, joined by Robert Greenberg. They didn’t come to mourn the demise of Sports Haven (originally called Teletrack) and its 100-foot-tall very public art mural installation, but to celebrate the fact that it was there as long as it was, as well as to document it and hopefully preserve some small part of it for posterity. But you can understand if they might get a little misty-eyed. Falcone is the guy that painted those giant horses on the building at 600 Long Wharf Drive beginning in 1995 and finishing in 1996. Since then, they’ve been seen by millions and millions of people passing by on one of Connecticut’s busiest stretches of highway. Greenberg is the guy who a few years ago founded the Lost in New Haven Museum at 80 Hamilton St., which works to preserve classic, lost icons of New Haven just like this. They came out of their visit with a promise from Johnny Carabetta, a member of the family that owns demolition contractor J & J Demolition — and the one operating the excavator that was working around the edges of the building Tuesday before things ratchet up further on Wednesday — to try to keep some good-sized chunks intact to go in the museum.

https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/demolition-new-haven-sports-haven-mural-ct-22391944.php