It was quite a sendoff year, as the Bronx said farewell to its beloved Yankee Stadium and two of the borough’s oldest and most devoted residents. Borough reporter Dean Meminger filed the following report.

After 85 years of playing ball at Yankee Stadium, the Bronx Bombers and their fans had their last cheer at “The house that Ruth built” on September 21.

It was quite a sendoff year. Major League Baseball threw a farewell party by having the 2008 All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium.

And honoring traditions even older than baseball, Pope Benedict XVI held a prayer service at the stadium in April, attracting more than 60,000 worshippers.

Come next season, the Yanks won't have to go far to play their home games, since the new billion-dollar-plus stadium right across the street is on track to open on April 3. However, elected officials are looking at the amount of tax free city bonds the Yankees are using to build the stadium. The fact that the organization is asking for hundreds of millions more in bonds while the city has received a luxury stadium suite in the deal.

One of the biggest courthouses ever built in the U.S. finally opened in the borough. Three years behind schedule and $100 million over budget, the Bronx County Hall of Justice cost a total of $421 million and still has plenty of problems to be fixed.

Meanwhile, Bronx Democrats were in another court fighting over who should be the county's Democratic Party chairman. Assemblyman Carl Heastie and his so-called “rainbow coalition” legally overthrew legendary politician Jose Rivera.

On the police blotter, most crime is down, with the exception of a 3-percent increase in murder and a 5-percent increase in rape and robbery.

In 2008, the borough bid farewell to a man known as “Mr. Bronx.” Elias Karmon, 98, will be remembered for his support of dozens of Bronx organizations.

Another Bronx treasure, Mary Davis, died this year at the age of 113. Over the last few years, NY1’s Dean Meminger became friends with her as he reported on her ever-increasing birthdays.

One last thought to get through the winter months - the city’s floating pool, which is housed in a barge, is expected to be in Hunts Point for the next two summers.