Yankee Stadium impressions


So yeah, we're playing hooky and checking the new ball field out. First impressions:

The bat remains, ensconced in the bridge from Metro-North and the Degan parking lots. It probably won't be the best place to meet any more, though - a bit too far from the new Stadium. And it looks less like a bat and more like a monument surrounded by a steel staircase.

The parking lot configuration & traffic flow make even less sense than before. Obviously - most of the lots were set up for the old Stadium. Tough to judge anything yet, though, especially on day games. The distance to the far lots could work out, if the close-in lots empty quickly. Then again, the 'I don't know where I'm going but I'm going there anyway' and tourist factors will be increased exponentially this year.

Things you never saw outside the old stadium: A maintenance guy sweeping up cigarettes (and cigars) from the sidewalk.

They check your car for bombs at the "preferred customer" parking lots. The other ones - hey, we can afford to lose some of the rabble, no?

There are a lot more food places scattered around, not to mention the restaurants. This will take considerably more research, but preliminary recce showed that most stands are duplicates. Haven't found the sushi place yet. The Italian deli place may or may not have been replaced by a place selling Boar's Head sandwiches. (OK as far as they go, but ham and Swiss is no replacement for prosciutto and coppacolla*, w/provolone.

The good - there are a few more places to get bass ale. The bad - they still don't have it on draft.

The garlic fries are extremely greasy, as they should be.

But they ran out of vanilla soft-serve ice cream Friday.

Contrary to rumor, none of the thousands of flat screens added to the Stadium are in the restrooms. At least not in the men's. And there are still lines. The men's doesn't smell like twenty-year-old beer, but we'll give that time.

The center video screen is massive - but figuring out where balls and strikes are tracked is tricky. (On smaller boards by the foul poles.)

More research is needed here as well, but getting out of the Stadium is not easy at all. There were massive jams Friday, when the game wasn't decided until the ninth. We'll have to see how this goes, because it could be a major design flaw.

The place looks nice, open and modern. Does it have New York character . . . ??? But there are definitely characters - guitar man was in the stands. Didn't see Stan and his signs, though. Maybe he got sidetracked in the preferred customer parking lot.

Finding the perfect spot for cigar smoking will take quite a bit more work, but the low wall along 161st shows promise.

And finally:

The view from the cheap seats is a hell of a lot better when the Yankees win.

* Or as it is pronounced in NY, 'pro-shoot n gab-a-goal.'