One Fan’s Report On The Inside Of The New Yankee Stadium
My man Gary shares what it was like to see the new Yankee Stadium today:
Wow! Where to start? How about the entrance?
I entered the Stadium at Gate 6 just off of 161st St. into an area with a wide aisle and tall ceilings. The ceilings appear to be as tall as the stadium itself. Along the outside wall of this area are large pictures of Yankee greats in action and large windows that let plenty of sunshine in. On the inside wall are concessions of all kinds (including a Hard Rock Cafe).
On the 100 level (former field level) the concession stands are voluminous and quite varied. Again, pictures of Yankee greats adorn the walls. From the concession stands to the seats is completely open. No more walls separate you from the action on the field.
On the 200 level, I went to visit our season ticket seats. I’m happy to say that only a very little of the right field corner is out of our view. Each (and every) seat in the stadium now comes equipped with a cup holder. Rest rooms were easy to find and quite large (this goes for every level I visited including the bleachers).
I skipped the 250 level, but the 300 level (former upper deck) was split into two levels. I enjoyed the view of the whole ball park from there (Section 1 at the old Stadium). I’ve always maintained that the Section 1 was the best seat in the old Yankee Stadium and I can honestly say I feel that way about the new one too. Sitting there I was amazed to see just how much the new stadium resembles the old. Except for the “batter’s eye” I thought I was sitting in the old Yankee Stadium.
Left and right field bleachers have a lot more concession stands and rest rooms available. One big drawback about these seats is that a building (a restaurant maybe) whose facade makes up the new batter’s eye juts out in such a way so that many bleacher creatures will now find themselves sitting in obstructed view seats. The extreme right of the right field bleachers and the extreme left of the left field bleachers suffer from this problem. The Yankees have installed flat screen TVs on those walls but anyone sitting at the very end of the aisle is going to have a difficult time seeing the field or the screen.
All in all, I think the Yankees have done a great job in bringing a world class ball yard to the Bronx.
Thanks Gary!
