Didn’t think this would be heavy enough for GD and I really don’t have the answer so I’ve have no debate, but maybe a few of you can explain to me why there is this push for a new Yankee stadium every few years, but none for a new Shea.
Yankee Stadium is a beautiful, modern venue with easy access (don’t listen to George, there isn’t anywhere in the city where you could put the stadium where there wont be traffic problems on game day.) while Shea is a stinky, dank, dark, uncomfortable hatbox under a very, very busy flight path.
Why don’t they talk about floating bonds for a new Shea? It doesn’t make any sense at all.
Well a few years ago the city (read: Guilianni) agreed to pay a portion of the costs for new stadiums for the Mets and Yankees. This of course was when we were in better financial times. However that didn’t stop Guiliani from keeping the deal alive on his final days in office. One of Bloomberg’s first act as Mayor was to nix the deal because if wasn’t a good time for the city to take on such responsibility.
Shea gets a lot of bad press in the media and I really think it is extremely over exagerated.
Stinky? Please explain. I never smelled anything out of the ordinary when at the games.
Dark? When, at night? This makes no sense to me.
Uncomfortable? I have yet to sit in a comfortable baseball seat. And yes, I have been to my share of stadiums. Yankee Stadium is no more comfortable than Shea.
Noisy. Yes, it is noisy. Good point but that is unlikely to change.
Yankee Stadium is modern? This is also a little confusing. It is one of the oldest staduims in MLB.
Many of the “New Stadium talks” start with Steinbrenner. He was the catalyst back in the 90’s when he threatened to move to NJ if he didn’t draw 3 million (I think) a season. FYI, Yankee fans did not flock to see games in the early to mid 90’s
George claimed that his fans did not want to go to The Bronx and he should get a new stadium in Manhattan or at least somewhere else than where it is now. As you can tell the agrument doesn’t have a leg to stand on anymore.
A few years prior to the "Gulianni agreement’ when the Mets show cased their model for a new retractable dome stadium it was a huge success in the press. It was poised to be a multi-purpose stadium that could hold concerts and other sporting events (NCAA Basketball tournament) and looked like the old Ebets field where the BKLYN Dogers once played. The Mets were originally going to foot the bill for most of the costs. However, I believe George opened his mouth and wanted to city to help him pay for a new stadium. Mets brass did not think it would be fair for the Yankees to get special treatment and wanted what ever the Yankees would recieve.
Anyway, now a days I always hear talks of new stadiums for both teams. What makes you think the Yankees are getting more attention? Or is it just your perception?
No, it’s not exaggerated. The stadium is decrepit and crumbling.
It’s the smell of dankness. Musty, moldy dankness. Have you ever been to a game a day or two after it rains?
**Dark, as in there is inadequate (and sometimes NO) lighting in the walkways and hallways under the seats. Dark as in, are you sure you put mustard or is that ketchup on my hotdog-- it’s too dark in here for me to see.
** Then you need to go to more stadiums. Me, I’ve been to a few-- general admission and bleechers mostly. Shea is gaddanged UNCOMFORTABLE! The seats at the bleechers at Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park are one hundred times more comfortable than the Gen Adm seats at Shea.
The concrete is crumbling, the walls weep, the overhangs leak. Shea is a shitty stadium. And when The Guil was discussing building a whole new Yankee Stadium over on the west side-- NOBODY wanted that. But talk of at least renovating Shea was met with general approval. But those talks died down long before George and Rudy stopped trying to cram a West Side Stadium down fan’s throats.
Biggirl,
The big thing is Rudy is a die-hard Yankee fan. He looked after his team. IMO he was a good mayor, but equanimity was never his strong suit. Yankee Stadium had a massive $100 Million renovation in the mid-70s ('74,'75, IIRC), so it should be in better shape than Shea, which had the Jets leave because Leon Hess (then owner) publically blasted the stadium. It was built for the World’s Fair in 1964.
BTW, you have short legs, otherwise you’d consider Fenway seats much worse than Shea. Ditto behind any rail at Philly Vet , which is being replaced. Now Camden, ahhhhh… I’ve been to about 10 stadia, and Shea is low on the list. Favorite is Arlington, BTW.
I won’t vote to build any stadium, BTW. Build them privately, like the SF Giants and Redskins did. The city should build roads, etc, but that’s it. George is right, though, when he says he should’ve had a Metro North station years ago, and Shea should’ve been more accessible via the LIRR, rather than having to go from LI into Woodside and double back.
Well I guess I’ll have to get my nose checked because I have been to plenty of games over the last 30 years and haven’t noticed any reoccuring smells. Perhaps I am used to it.
I think you need to get your eyes checked. I never had a problem with the lighting at Shea. I have had problems seeing but that was due to the consumption of alchohol
Well I will be in Fenway in May of 2003 and I will compare it to Shea. I have never been impressed with the seating in any baseball stadium. I have been cramped in Box seats and the Upperdecks at both Shea and Yankee Stadiums. Wrigley was no sofa and Camden yards was no Lazy Boy either.
Yes I agree that the stadium needs fixing up and I would love a new stadium for my Mets but I think the over emphasis on how crappy Shea is is uncalled for. I have never left Shea and said “Wow that game would have been so much better if (add stadium complaint)”. I would rather have a better product on the field than a state of the art stadium with a crappy team. Yes everyone would want both but at what cost?
New Jersey (at least in the late 80’s - early 90’s) gave the impression that they’d love to have the Yankees play at the Meadowlands. They never indicated any desire to have the Mets. That gave George Steinbrenner leverage to bargain for a new stadium but no similar tactic was available to the Mets’ owners.
Yeah, but that leverage was lost in the last few years when Gov. Whitman said she wasn’t going to spend the big bucks to bring them over. The big talk was because Rudy was a Yankee fan. Without him, it dies. Manhattan was preposterous anyway: don’t complain about highway access in The Bronx, then ask for a West Side stadium where the closest highway is the East River Drive - the other side of the island.
