Jump to content

Citi Field

Coordinates: 40°45′24.5″N 73°50′44.5″W / 40.756806°N 73.845694°W / 40.756806; -73.845694
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Metsfan84 (talk | contribs) at 00:27, 8 March 2009 (Added interior picture of Citi Field and moved old picture to gallery). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Citi Field
Panoramic view of Citi Field
Map
Location126th St. & Roosevelt Ave.
Flushing, New York
Coordinates40°45′24.5″N 73°50′44.5″W / 40.756806°N 73.845694°W / 40.756806; -73.845694
OwnerCity of New York
OperatorNew York Mets
Capacity45,000 (approx.)
Field sizeLeft Field - 335 ft (102 m)
Left Center - 379 (116)
Center Field - 408 (124)
Right Center - 383 (119)
Right Field - 330 (101)
SurfaceGrass
Construction
Broke groundNovember 13, 2006
Construction cost$850 million
ArchitectHOK Sport
Tenants
New York Mets (MLB) (2009-present)

Citi Field is the new baseball park for the New York Mets that is being built in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in the New York City borough of Queens as a replacement for the adjacent Shea Stadium, which was itself constructed in 1964 adjacent to the site of the 1964-1965 World's Fair. Citi Field was designed by HOK Sport, and is currently named after Citigroup, a financial services company based in New York City. The $850 million baseball stadium is being funded by the sale of New York City municipal bonds which are to be repayed by the Mets plus interest. The payments will offset property taxes for the lifetime of the park.

The first ever game at the stadium is scheduled for March 29, 2009, in a college baseball game between St. John's Red Storm and the Georgetown Hoyas.[1] The Mets will play their first game at the stadium on April 3, 2009, in a charity exhibition game against the Boston Red Sox[2], and the first regular season home game is scheduled for April 13, 2009, against the San Diego Padres.[3] The Mets are bidding to host the 2013 All-Star Game at Citi Field, which would bring the game to the Mets' home field for only the second time; the first was at Shea in its 1964 inaugural season.[4]

Plans for a new Mets ballpark

The original plans for what is now Citi Field were created as part of New York City's 2012 Summer Olympics bid. After plans for a West Side Stadium fell through, New York looked for an alternate stadium to host the opening and closing ceremonies. The Olympic stadium project was estimated to cost $2.2 billion with $180 million provided by New York City and New York State. If New York had won the bid, the stadium would have been expanded to host the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as other sporting events.

Design and construction

Nearly-completed Citi Field, as seen in February, 2009.

The new stadium has a planned capacity of 45,000 (42,500 seats, ~2,500 standing room), approximately 12,000 fewer seats than Shea Stadium. The exterior facade and entryway rotunda are reminiscent of Ebbets Field (which was long sought by Mets owner Fred Wilpon, a Brooklyn native). Citi Field will join Coors Field and Safeco Field as modern ballparks with approximate replicas of the Ebbets Field rotunda.[citation needed]

Citi Field's interior design is primarily influenced by PNC Park, which was the favorite ballpark of Mets COO Jeff Wilpon. Other influences include Tiger Stadium, Great American Ballpark, Coors Field and Citizens Bank Park. [5] Shea Stadium was the only ballpark in the Major Leagues to feature orange foul poles instead of the standard yellow, a unique characteristic that will make its way into Citi Field, along with the Mets' own Home Run Apple (a new apple has been constructed for Citi Field that is more than four times the size of the previous one and was designed by Minneapolis-based engineering firm Uni-Systems[6]). The projected cost of the new stadium and other infrastructure improvements is $610 million, with the Mets picking up $420 million of that amount. The agreement includes a 40-year lease that will keep the Mets in New York until 2049.

On March 18, 2006, the New York Mets unveiled the official model for the new stadium. By July 2006, initial construction of the new park was underway in the parking lot beyond left-field, with a projected finish ahead of Opening Day 2009 in late March. As of April 13, 2008, all of the structure for the Jackie Robinson Rotunda was in place with the arched windows receiving their paneling and glass. By August 2008, the New York Mets and Daktronics installed 12,000 square feet (1,100 m2) of integrated scoring and video boards throughout the stadium. [7] As of September 2008, most of the Citi Field signage has been installed. [8] As of December 1, 2008, all of the seats and the playing field have been installed. [9] The formal dedication of the Jackie Robinson Rotunda will be held as part of Major League Baseball's official celebration of Jackie Robinson Day on April 15, 2009.

Citi Field will be the third stadium that the Mets call home during their nearly 50-year history. The Mets played the 1962 and 1963 seasons at the Polo Grounds, sharing tenancy with the New York Titans (later renamed Jets). The stadium had previously been the home of the New York baseball Giants and the New York Yankees, as well as the New York football Giants.[10] In 1964, the Mets and Jets moved to Shea Stadium. The Yankees shared tenancy in 1974 and 1975 with the Mets as Yankee Stadium was being rebuilt, and the football Giants shared the facility in 1975 prior to moving to New Jersey's Giants Stadium in 1976, while the Jets vacated Shea after their 1983 season.

Location and access

Citi Field is located in the borough of Queens, adjacent to the neighborhoods of Corona, which lies to its west, and Willets Point and Flushing to the east. Flushing Bay is to the north, and the rest of Flushing Meadows–Corona Park is to the south. Because all ZIP Codes beginning with 113 belong to the Flushing post office, corresponding to the former Town of Flushing before Queens was annexed by the City of New York, and because of its location in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, its location is frequently referred to as Flushing.

Citi Field is reachable via mass transit systems such as the New York City Subway using the 7 train at the Willets Point-Shea Stadium station, and the Long Island Rail Road at the Shea Stadium station (the MTA has not yet announced plans to change the names of these stations to match the new ballpark's name). The park is also close to several major thoroughfares, including the Grand Central Parkway, the Long Island Expressway, the Van Wyck Expressway, Roosevelt Avenue and Northern Boulevard.

Citi Field is adjacent to the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, where the annual US Open grand-slam tennis tournament is held.

Since the construction of Citi Field began, satellite parking lots in Flushing Meadow Park (access from College Point Blvd) have been opened.

Naming rights

On November 13, 2006, it was officially announced that the stadium would be called Citi Field, named for Citigroup Inc. Citigroup will be paying $20 million a year for the naming rights to the park over the next 20 years. This made Citi Field the second major league sports venue in the area named for a corporate sponsor, (after Continental Airlines Arena (now Izod Center) in the Meadowlands, but preceding Prudential Center in Newark and the proposed Barclays Center in Brooklyn), officially becoming the first in New York City itself, aside from two minor league ballparks (KeySpan Park in Brooklyn, and Richmond County Bank Ballpark in Staten Island). The deal includes an option on both sides to extend the contract to 40 years, and is the most expensive sports-stadium naming rights agreement ever, subsequently equaled by Barclays' $400 million deal with the New Jersey Nets for their planned arena in Brooklyn. [11]

At the groundbreaking for Citi Field, it was announced that the main entrance, modeled on the one in Brooklyn's old Ebbets Field, will be called the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, possibly due to campaigns to forego naming rights and name the ballpark after Robinson. The Mets are spending more than $600 million for the new stadium, which New York City and New York state are also supporting with a total of $165 million for such costs as infrastructure and site preparation. On February 24, 2008, the Mets and Citigroup unveiled the new Citi Field logo. [12]

Criticism

Both Citigroup[13] and the Mets[14] maintain that the naming rights deal is secure, despite Citigroup's economic troubles. This deal has been criticized in light of the economic crisis of 2008-2009 and the $45 billion of taxpayer funds allocated to Citigroup by the US Government in two separate rescue packages, prompting New York City Council members Vincent Ignizio and James Oddo to suggest that the new ballpark be called "Citi/Taxpayer Field." [15] Congressman Elijah Cummings of Maryland, who serves on the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, stated in regards to the Citi Field naming rights deal, "This type of spending is indefensible and unacceptable to Citigroup's new partner and largest investor: the American taxpayer.... I strongly urge Citigroup to find a way out of this contract and instead spend that $400 million on retaining its employees and restoring confidence in its operations."[16][17] [18] On January 29, 2009, congressmen Dennis Kucinich of Ohio and Ted Poe of Texas sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner urging him to scrap Citigroup's $400 million naming rights deal. "We request that you intervene and demand that Citigroup dissolve the agreement they have with the New York Mets," reads the letter. "Absent this outcome, we feel strongly that you should compel Citigroup to return immediately all federal monies received to date, as well as cancel all loan guarantees."[19] [20] However, Geithner rejected congressional demands to cancel the naming rights deal. [21]

The Wall Street Journal reported on February 3, 2009 that Citigroup is exploring breaking the naming rights deal. Citi has stated that no government TARP funds would be used in the sponsorship deal. [22]

Uniform patch

Citi Field uniform logo

On January 14, 2009, the Mets unveiled the Citi Field Inaugural Season sleeve patch, to be worn on the players' right sleeves for the 2009 season. As Major League Baseball rules prohibit corporate names on uniforms, the standard Citi Field logo could not be used.[23] The patch echoes the shape, colors and orientation of the Citi Field logo, with the name replaced by "INAUGURAL SEASON 2009". Reaction to the patch was immediate and negative from Mets fans and critics alike[24], with ESPN UniWatch writer and blogger Paul Lukas calling it the "worst sleeve patch in MLB history".[25] Several fans have pointed out a resemblance between the sleeve patch and the logo for Domino's Pizza[26], and the patch was mocked on an episode of The Colbert Report.[27]

In February 2009, the Mets unveiled a different patch, to be worn on the side of the caps and featuring the arches of the Jackie Robinson rotunda.[28]

Delta Sky360 Club

Delta Air Lines signed a multiyear deal on September 15, 2008, to sponsor an exclusive section in Citi Field. The new Delta Sky360 Club will be a 22,500-square-foot (2,090 m2) area directly behind home plate. Delta will hold exclusive naming rights to the stadium’s "Sterling Club" level in addition to the providing significant branding presence throughout the park and on the Mets’ official television station, SportsNet New York (SNY). [29]

Planned stadium facts

Stadium Name Shea Stadium Citi Field
Opening Day 1964 2009
Capacity 57,333 45,000 (approx.)
Seat width 19" to 20", 19" average 19" to 24", 21" average
Legroom 32" 33" to 39"
Average concourse width 21 ft (6.4 m). 43 ft (13 m).
Wheelchair seating 174 830
Luxury suites 45 54
Restaurants (total capacity) 2 (528) 4 (3,334)
Team store 2,600 sq ft (240 m2). 7,200 sq ft (670 m2).
No. of toilets 568 646
Public elevators 4 11
Field dimensions (feet) Left field - 338
Left center - 371
Center - 410
Right center - 371
Right field - 338 		Left field - 335
Left center - 379
Center - 408
Right center - 383
Right field - 330
Fence heights (feet) Whole fence - 8 Left field foul pole - 12
Left field - 15
Left center - 15
Left of dead center - 11
Dead center - 16
Right of dead center - 11
Right center - 8
Right field - 18
Right field foul pole - 8

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Citi Field.

References

  1. ^ St. John's Red Storm 2009 baseball schedule
  2. ^ Mets reveal an extended Spring Training schedule and charity exhibition game against the Red Sox
  3. ^ Mets reveal 2009 schedule
  4. ^ Mets likely to get 2013 All-Star Game
  5. ^ DiComo, Anthony (2008-12-02). "Citi Field nearly ready to open its doors". MLB.com. Retrieved 2008-12-03.
  6. ^ http://www.keyc.com/node/16362
  7. ^ The Official Site of The New York Mets: Official Info: Press Release
  8. ^ Citi Field nearing completion
  9. ^ Shpigel, Ben (2008-12-02). "Citi Field Starting to Look Like a Real Ballpark". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-12-03.
  10. ^ Mets Ballparks: 1962–Present, MLB.com. Accessed May 8, 2007.
  11. ^ Wolf, Barnet D. (2007-04-29). "The Name Game: Company banners flying on more college stadiums, arenas". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 2007-05-20.
  12. ^ "Mets honor Robinson at new home". New York, NY: Daily News. 2006-11-14. Retrieved 2006-11-14.
  13. ^ Brown, Maury (2008-11-22). "Amidst Near Collapse, Cititgroup Confirms Retaining Naming Rights Deal with Mets". The Biz of Baseball. Retrieved 2008-11-22.
  14. ^ Klayman, Ben (2008-11-21). "Citigroup naming rights deal still in place-Mets". Forbes.com/Reuters. Retrieved 2008-11-22.
  15. ^ "Pols want new name for Mets home: Citi/Taxpayer Field". USA Today. 2008-11-26. Retrieved 2008-11-26.
  16. ^ Irwin, Neil (2008-11-24). "U.S. Offers Citigroup Expansive Safety Net". Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-11-24.
  17. ^ Cummings, Elijah (2008-11-24). "Citigroup's Spending Indefensible and Unacceptable". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
  18. ^ Nasaw, Daniel (2008-11-25). "Baseball stadium named for Citigroup faces scrutiny". Guardian.uk. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
  19. ^ Herbert, Keith (2009-01-30). "Pols call for Mets to scrap Citigroup naming rights deal". Newsday. Retrieved 2009-01-30.
  20. ^ Grim, Ryan (2009-01-29). "Rename Citi Field: Bipartisan Push In House". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2009-01-30.
  21. ^ http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/02/13/2009-02-13_mets_fans_will_have_to_deal_with_citi_fi.html
  22. ^ "Citi Explores Breaking Mets Deal". WSJ.com. 2009-02-03. Retrieved 2009-02-03.
  23. ^ Kepner, Tyler (2009-01-14). "Mets' Latest Off-Season Problem? A Dull Patch". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-02-18.
  24. ^ Paul, Tony (2009-01-16). "Cause for a pause: Mets' fans, critics reach consensus -- patch needs work". Detroit News. Retrieved 2009-02-18.
  25. ^ Lukas, Paul (2009-01-09). "Ladies and gentlemen, the worst sleeve patch in MLB history". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2009-02-18.
  26. ^ "Love 'em or hate 'em? Yankees, Mets reveal 2009 stadium patches". 2009-01-14. Retrieved 2009-02-18.
  27. ^ ""Tip of the Hat/Wag of the Finger"". The Colbert Report. 2009-01-15. {{cite episode}}: Check |episodelink= value (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |serieslink= (help); External link in |episodelink= (help); Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help)
  28. ^ Noble, Marty (2009-02-19). "Mets unveil additional patch for caps". MLB.com. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  29. ^ "Mets go first class with Delta". Atlanta, GA: Atlanta Business Journal. 2008-09-15. Retrieved 2008-09-15.


Preceded by Home of the
New York Mets
2009 – present 		Succeeded by
current


40°45′24.5″N 73°50′44.5″W / 40.756806°N 73.845694°W / 40.756806; -73.845694

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Citi_Field&oldid=275706242"