The train to Citifield is maybe 10 minutes more. For the OP I would not recommend going there unless they are going to a game. It’s a great stadium to watch a game but I’m not sure if the walk to what’s around it is worth it. I’ve never wandered the area.
Right over the pedestrian bridge you have the Arthur Ashe Stadium where the US Open is played if you’re a tennis fan. One can pay for tours of that as well; otherwise, you’re looking at the outside of a building. There’s also the Unisphere & the Queens Zoo (never been there) is also walking distance in the area so there are other things to do in the area but IMHO, Monument Park in Yankee’s Stadium is cooler if you’re interested in seeing a baseball stadium.
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I had already randomly put some of these areas on my list, it’s great that you confirm I’m likely to find what I’m looking for there.
I’m now considering joining a paid tour. I told my daughters we were going to keep expenses to a minimum, but I’m sure my older one would love seeing those areas.
I’ll tell them about it.
Ha, I’ll be careful!
We’ll be there in late April-early May.
I had a quick look on Google maps two days ago and thought I’d found travel times of about 35 minutes, but it looks like it’s more than that, indeed. At least 55 minutes.
I’ll keep this in mind.
Thanks for all your answers!
The season starts March 18-19 with a special short series in Japan. The season for all other teams starts March 27th. Late April is already a month into the season.
I’m not sure if they have tours on off days. I don’t think so but it’s possible. They definitely have pre-game tours as part of a ticket including the game. Or do like I do and get there early and drink at Stan’s across the street from the old stadium.
Thanks.
For the moment, the website only shows guided tour tickets until early February. I’ll keep an eye on it to see what we can do.
In the meantime, my younger daughter has told me that she just wants to go for walks in the evening to see the city lights, something we didn’t really do the last time.
So, the programme looks like this.
Day 1
Battery Park (evening walk).
Day 2
East Village in the morning (?) ;
Brooklyn Bridge in the early afternoon ;
DUMBO, so my older daughter can take a picture of that Instagrammable bridge ;
Columbus Park ;
Brooklyn Heights ;
Brooklyn Heights Promenade in the evening to see the city lights.
I’ve found these shops which seem to sell local brands. I might include them in the walk if they’re worth it. I’d like to buy some Brooklyn but non-touristy sweaters/knitwear.
Day 3
Fifth Avenue, in the morning so my younger daughter can do some shopping ;
Yankee Stadium in the early afternoon ;
Harlem ;
Columbia University for a quick look ;
Central Park in a nice top-left-to-bottom-right diagonal line ;
Times Square in the evening.
Day 4
Tribeca and Greenwich Village or the High Line in the morning (?).
5th Ave, in the 30’s, look south/downtown/direction of traffic after dark, look up for good views of ESB. The lights typically do the white ‘sparkle’ on the hour but many nights they will be colored to honor something. Some nights they just have random, changing color patterns.
Then walk a block east to Madison & look up & uptown to get views of One Vanderbilt; another building that sometimes has colored lighting at the top other than it’s base white.
You can also get city views from Brooklyn at night; there are a couple parks that you can get close to the East River for unobstructed views
Day three looks overly ambitious. Central Park will take longer than you expect if you’re going to do the whole North West to South East diagonal. And you’ve got a half day just for Yankee Stadium, including transit time.
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing about Central Park - you should allocate an entire morning or afternoon for this.
Your strategy of top-left to lower-right is very sound. Although I would suggest some tweaks:
- Subway to 72 street station and enter Park
- Strawberry Fields
- around The Lake to the Bow Bridge
- go through The Ramble to Boathouse, Conservatory Waters (Boat Pond), Alice in Wonderland and Hans Christian Andersen statues
- Bethesda Terrace, The Mall (Poets Walk)
- east under the Willowdell Arch to visit Balto
- continue south from Balto through The Central Park Zoo
- back west to The Dairy, Carousel, Chess Pavilion
- Wollman Rink, Gapstow Bridge and The Pond
- finish at Grand Army Plaza, and the Plaza Hotel
Last summer we spent a whole morning there, indeed.
This time, we’re only going to walk through it, just to be there again. We don’t really need to stay too long, so I think that 2 hours at a leisurely pace should be enough for this but…
The idea was to get to the Yankee stadium in the early afternoon and leave around 4pm (the tours last 1h). We’d be back in Harlem around 5pm, near the northern edge of Central Park and just walk around a little bit. I’m not planning to do a full exploration of the neighbourhood.
Then, take a quick peek at Columbia University around 6pm, immediately start crossing Central Park including some of the tweaks suggested by @K364 if possible, and arrive in Times Square around 8pm as the sun sets (if I read the tables correctly). Finally, spend a couple of hours there and look at…
I’m sure they’ll love this.
But perhaps that’s too much, indeed. If push comes to shove, I’ll drop Columbia University and really limit our time in Harlem. The Yankee Stadium, Central Park and Times Square in the evening are the priorities.
Do you have alternate plans for rainy days? Museums are plentiful. Maybe Macy’s? Or take the (free) Staten Island ferry and get a close-up view of the Statue of Liberty - you’re under shelter.
I’ve thought of the possibility of rain, but I haven’t made any plans for it. You’re right, I should.
We went to Staten Island last summer, and I’m not sure my daughters would be thrilled to spend a whole day in a museum since we’re staying so briefly but Macy’s a possibility. The Yankee stadium visit should be all right too, I guess.
On the other hand, it rains a lot where we live, so we’re used to it. Depending on how heavy it is, we may well decide to soldier on.
You can easily spend several hours in Central Park. I’ve done the walk across the park diagonally, from the southeast corner to the northwest, on a day when I wasn’t in a hurry and didn’t feel like taking the bus or subway, and at a businesslike pace without sightseeing stops it took at least 50 minutes. And there are plenty of sightseeing stops.
For sure.
But we went to Central Park twice last summer, so we’ve already seen a fair bit of it. Taking @K364’s list, we have already been to the Boat Pond, the Alice in Wonderland statue, Bethesda Terrace, the Chess Pavilion, the Dairy, the Carousel, and Wollman Rink. Plus the Shakespeare Garden.
The idea is just to be there again because we all love it so much.
Ok definitely try for Strawberry Fields and the Rambles!
And one of my faves which I don’t think has been mentioned yet (a bit out of the way but worthwhile if you have time ) is the Conservancy Garden by 5th Ave and 105th St.
We haven’t done any of these, so I’ll try and include them in the itinerary. The Rambles look particularly nice.
So, my older daughter has told me that she really wants to see a baseball match, actually…
It looks like the Yankees will be away when we are there, but the Mets will be home. Since I’ve never attended a baseball match, I have lots of questions (again).
The match starts at around 7pm.
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How long in advance should we be there?
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Are we supposed to get inside through a specific entrance, or can we just choose whichever we are closest to?
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How can I make sure that the seats I book are right next to each other? I’ve had a look at the website and run a few ‘test’ bookings, and sometimes the seats are listed together (row 5, seats 1, 2, 3 - 18$), sometimes separately but with incremental numbers and at the same price (like 'row 5, seat 1 - 18$ / row 5, seats 2, 3 - 18$). What’s the difference? Are those seats really continguous? This is of course crucial as I don’t want to lose track of my daughters while we’re there.
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How long does a match last? I’ve read ‘about 3 hours on average’, which would means it would end rather late, and we still have to go back to Battery Park.
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Can we leave in the middle of a game, if need be?
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Are bathrooms… easy to find (asking for a friend)?
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Is there anything else I need to know?
I normally get there about 90 minutes before the game , but we drive and have to find somewhere to park. Half an hour before will be plenty of time unless you want to watch batting practice. Make sure you buy from the official website, not a reseller. I recommend looking at the seat map
Your ticket will say which entrance you should use. I’ve never been prevented from using a different one, but it’s much easier too walk around the outside of the stadium to get to the entrance nearest your seat than it is to walk around the inside. This will also easily show you which seats are next to or behind each other. ( If I’m going with more than six people, I’d rather get say, two in front and four in back than six in a row. An average game ( not match) takes about three hours but I’ve been to some as short as 2 hours and 4 hours is not unheard of . There is no time limit for a game although I think there is a rule that prohibits an inning starting after a certain time. You can leave whenever you want- but don’t leave in the middle of an at-bat - you will block the view of the people behind you.
Restrooms are pretty easy to find. I forget when your trip is- but in spring or fall it can be colder in the stands than on the street so you might want a sweatshirt. The only other thing I can think of is that it’s a cashless venue- I believe there are reverse ATMs where you put in cash and get a card but even the vendors walking around only take credit cards.
All 100% true.
But if the OP is going for the first time of their lives, and is intent on the full experience, taking the sorta-tour of the stadium by entering [wherever] and traversing the concourse to their seats halfway around to the other side is not a bad experience. Can be busy, but it also gives you a feel for what sort of food and drink can be had where.
In that vein, for the OP’s background info …
The stadium may wrap all the way around the field, but not all of it is created equal. The desirable seats and the more dense amenities are clustered in the ~180 degrees centered behind home plate, while the other hemicircle wrapping around the perimeter of the outfield is rather sparser in everything.
Normally, you could arrive just before “first pitch.” However, if this is your first game, you might want to get their early. (60 minutes?) They have all kinds of uniquely baseball activities that might be interesting one time. (I tire of the pre game stuff pretty quickly, but it’s worth doing once).
Also, you can grab a hot dog and a beer without missing any of the game.
I haven’t noticed this. Regardless, once you’re in you can get to your seat.
I get almost all my seats from a reseller. It costs more but I can get the ones I like (front row, or whatever my preference is). Nothing wrong with buying from the team directly, but for Mariner games at least, the options are poor if you don’t buy way in advance. The best seats go to the season ticket holders, and that’s who generally sells on the reseller website.
I’d watch a game or two before you go so you understand the basics. I assume there is a way to do that on the internet. Baseball is a game that is much more watchable when you understand some of the nuances. My brother, for example, is bored out of his mind at games, because he’s only looking to see if the batter gets a hit or doesn’t get a hit. The difference between a 3 and 0 count versus a 1 and 2 count means nothing to him.
I just checked a screenshot of one of my tickets at Citifield - and it does say Bullpen gate. But yes, you can get to your seat no matter which gate you enter through. But that reminds me - Citifield is all digital tickets and screenshots are not accepted. The tickets have to be in the Ballpark app.
I should have specified that by “reseller” , I didn’t mean Seat Geek or whoever is the official reseller (which is linked on the Mets ticket website) - but even with all digital tickets, there are people selling tickets in the parking lot and on eBay.