Citi Field — Attraction in New York

Full disclosure from the get go - I'm a diehard Mets fan going back to the mid-90s when they...weren't the best and way too much ink was spilled about how amazing Bill Pulsipher and Alex Ochoa were going to be for the subsequent decade. I have a lot of very pleasant (and also heartbreaking) memories from Shea Stadium, and that will always be a 5-star monument of wonder for me. That blue and orange eyesore was the best, and I don't think I ever paid more than $10 for a ticket there. Times have changed.

I came here with my top-tier chum who literally went to the school of hospitality this past Saturday for the Mariners game, which started at 4pm (weird time for a weekend game - usually it's either 1pm or 7pmish). There was drama with the 7 line once we got into Queens so a quick pivot to an Uber was in order, and we arrived probably 40 minutes before game time. Not a ton of time to take in the sights, but we did a bit of recon in our area of the park (left field), including the Metro Market and surrounding concession stands.

We bought these tickets fairly recently so there were not a lot of options. (That was a nice perk of Shea Stadium/when the team wasn't that good - you had your choice of juicy seats.) We ended up getting two seats right on the aisle in section 535, which also contained a stunning amount of Mariners fans. They were largely respectful and no rumbles were initiated. Our tickets had a disclaimer that it was obstructed view, but that was honestly negligible; I think they were referring to the fact that you can't see any ball hit to the warning track in left, which is fair. It was an issue a few times but not that big of a deal - you could literally see the rest of the ballpark. My preferred seats are right behind home plate, first few rows of the upper deck, but good luck getting those plum spots in 2025. No matter.

One of our first stops was a specialty cocktail booth, where I got a surprisingly tasty beverage. It was a special that day I think (I'm not seeing it on the menu) but I'm pretty sure it had bourbon and apricot liquor or something? I was a big fan, but my chum didn't like that it contained carbonation. Her loss, my gain. The woman behind the counter was very friendly; we had a miscommunication with the order due to the sheer volume of noise around us, and she was very accommodating and respectful in light of same. Top marks.

Right before the game, we managed to grab a bite in the Metro Market, which is a recommend for me - very nice interior and it was relatively quiet, I think because it's kind of nestled in the left field corner and not getting quite as much foot traffic as some of the other spots in the ballpark. The food in there was just okay; I got a slice of the Prince St Pizza, which is unfortunately a downgrade over the last pizza I had here several years ago (I think it was a deep dish pizza, Emily or something like that?). Pretty greasy and not a great crust. And for $13 or whatever I paid for the slice, it should be better.

We took a walk during the 7th inning and landed over at the Hudson Whiskey Club. Eh. It was pretty dingy, in my opinion, and reminiscent a place in Penn Station, which I don't think they're going for - I'd spend some of Steve Cohen's money in the offseason on fixing this area up. It's got a good view if you're lucky enough to procure seating by the window, but this was one of the lower points of the adventure. We did order this extreme grilled cheese thing that was styled like a cinnamon roll and came with tomato fondue, which was decent.

We had great timing, with the Mets calling up their top pitching prospect Nolan Maclean for this game, and he delivered a scoreless 5 1/3 innings for a warmly receptive crowd. Very good energy in the park for a much-needed win. I'm not crazy about these 4pm games (it means you have to navigate to Queens in the middle of the afternoon instead of late morning or evening, which makes a difference), but we're going to try to sneak in a night game during this playoff push as...

I visited the stadium on 26 Jun, 2024. This was my first experience to a baseball game as I was hoping to I inspire my 13 year-old son and 14 year-old daughter for a new sports and therefore decided to bring them to the game. Bought the tickets through the website and later downloaded the app and became member of MLB. At that time, I believed it was a decent way of identifying the purchaser via the app, coz a ticket holder could only enter the game via scanning the real-time tickets on cellphone. The first few innings were fun and we enjoyed it. The tickets we bought were on the 11th row in Section 512, definitely not the best tickets coz it was high up but the view was actually decent. We spent USD88 per ticket as Yankees were visiting. Then a storm suddenly came and the announcement told us to find shelter and we did. However, the storm soon became very strong and people were crowded at the top part of the stadium where we were. Massive rain and wind blew to a point basically everyone started to feel unsafe and started to pushed against each other, as everyone was all wet from head to toes. People were starting to escape from the rain but the staircase exits were stuck with people and no one couldn't even get out. We had to walk around the stadium and eventually found an exit and found shelter. At that time my teenage children and myself were entirely soaked. We had no choice but to leave the stadium and went back to the hotel we booked which was quite close to the stadium and get changed. We were told the game was restarting at 10:10 pm. I was thinking to give the young man and lady a full game experience and even though we experienced extreme weather, we discussed and decided to get back to Citi Field via subway. We arrived at the gate at around 10:25 pm and few of the hard core fans were lining up to get back into the stadium. I was holding my phone with the QR code tickets and was once thinking it was such a great ticketing system. But then we were told by the security guards that re-entry was actually not permitted. I understand there are rules. However, rules are set by humans, under such extreme circumstances and ad-hoc situations, I truly believe the game centre should inform the security guards and allow fans to re-enter the stadium and finished watching the game. At that time most people have already gone and people were also leaving the stadium as it was quite late. We 3, along with the few fans were rejected and were forced to leave the stadium again. I don't know if I'm being too emotional or irrational but all I can say is, my kids and I found the overall experience of this game the worst of all time, which i believed the stadium should at least know about. The evacuation and contingency plan during the storm was clearly not comprehensive without clear instructions and preparation. The stadium might not care, but every fans actually paid and made effort to...

Citi Field is a baseball stadium located in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in New York City, United States. It opened in 2009 and is the home field of Major League Baseball's New York Mets. The stadium was built as a replacement for the adjacent Shea Stadium, which opened in 1964. Address41 Seaver WayLocationFlushing, Queens, New York CityCoordinates40°45′25″N 73°50′45″WPublic transit Long Island Rail Road (LIRR):

Port Washington Branch

at Mets–Willets Point   New York City Subway: ​ trains at Mets–Willets Point   New York City Bus: Q19, Q48, Q661]OwnerNew York Mets[2]OperatorNew York MetsCapacity41,922 (2012–present)[3] 41,800 (2009–2011) 45,000+ (including standing room)Record attendance45,186 (2013 All-Star Game)[4] 44,859 (2015 World Series)[5] 44,466 (Regular season)[6]Field sizeLeft field line - 335 feet (102 m) Left center - 358 feet (109 m) Deep left center - 385 feet (117 m) Center field - 408 feet (124 m) Deep right center - 398 feet (121 m) Right center - 375 feet (114 m) Right field line - 330 feet (101 m) SurfaceKentucky BluegrassConstructionBroke groundNovember 13, 2006OpenedMarch 29, 2009 (college game) April 3, 2009 (exhibition game) April 13, 2009 (regular season)Construction costUS$900 million ($1.14 billion in 2021 dollars[7])ArchitectPopulous (formerly HOK Sport)Structural engineerWSP Cantor Seinuk[8]Services engineerM-E Engineers, Inc.[8]General contractorHunt/Bovis Lend Lease Alliance II (a joint venture)[8]Main contractorsInternational Concrete ProductsTenantsNew York Mets (MLB) (2009–present) New York City FC (MLS) (2020–present, part-time)[9]

Citi Field was designed by Populous. The $850 million baseball park was funded with $615 million in public subsidies,[10] including the sale of New York City municipal bonds that are to be repaid by the Mets with interest. The payments will offset property taxes for the lifetime of the park.[11

The first game at Citi Field was on March 29, 2009, with a college baseball game between St. John's and Georgetown.[13] The Mets played their first two games at the ballpark on April 3 and 4, 2009 against the Boston Red Sox[14] as charity exhibition games. The first regular season home game was played on April 13, 2009, against the San Diego Padres. Citi Field hosted the 2013 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, marking the second time the Mets have hosted the event (the first being in 1964, the inaugural season of Shea Stadium).[15]

The naming rights were purchased by Citigroup, a New York financial services company, for $20...