Citi Field Is Already Falling Apart

Posted Sep 06, 2009 1:06PM By Tom Fornelli (RSS feed)

The inaugural season of Citi Field in New York, one filled with injuries and losses, has been one that the Mets and their fans would like to end as soon as possible, so everybody can forget about it and move on.

But along with the seemingly bad luck, the new stadium seems to possess special powers.

Not only can it suck all the power out of David Wright's bat, it also picks up the tendencies of the life that inhabits it: much like the Mets roster, Citi Field is already falling apart.

Less than a season old, Citi Field has been plagued by water damage to several luxury suites -- including Jerry Seinfeld's -- as well as mold, falling signs and concrete, flooding in outfield seats, faulty electrical wiring and shoddy tile work, sources said.

Perhaps the biggest bungle is a water leak that sprang in early August, the source said, creating mold in Seinfeld's lavish suite and three others nearby.

The damage in Seinfeld's box was so severe that while the Mets were on a road trip repairmen literally tore down the walls in search of the leak. No word on whether or not they ever found it, but I'm guessing that, wherever it was, that crazy Kramer caused it.

Of course, it's not just Seinfeld's luxury box that's suffering. Last week Fred Wilpon had to climb four flights of stairs to his office because an elevator wasn't working, Mo's Zone in the outfield completely flooded after some pipes collapsed, a 24-square foot sign fell on the promenade during a day off, and then there's the falling concrete just for good measure.

Maybe if Wilpon hadn't lost all that money to Bernie Madoff he wouldn't have had to cut so many corners building the place.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

9-06-2009 @ 2:34PM

DP said...

Went to a game with my son a month ago. Had upper deck seats that were under the over-hang. Pigeons are nesting up in the rafters. Saw two fans almost get pigeon poop dropped down into their food/drink trays. They have not taken rudimentary anti-pigeon steps (spikes, strips) to deal with this. Pigeon poop was all over certain seats and the floor. Wrote the Mets.com customer service immediately upon arriving at home. Never heard back.

9-06-2009 @ 3:51PM

cljvedelman said...

You never hear back from a major league team when you have a valid complaint. I got the sickest I have ever been in my life several hours after eating a sausage sandwich at Fenway last September. Nobody in my group had that to eat but me. The people who were handling the food were not wearing gloves and the alleged supervisors were shooting the bull with one another. Virtually none of the help understood English when I spoke to them. I let the Red Sox know by email twice, but never hear a peep back. Well, what can you expect for $50 seats I guess ? They are making plenty of $$. Why should they care ?

9-06-2009 @ 4:13PM

dfnaturesglen said...

And David Wright espouses how wonderful the work was by the union folks who built the stadium.

9-06-2009 @ 5:02PM

swoboda23 said...

Now lets pick on the Mets new digs! The guy who wrote this must be a pathetic philthies fan! I went to Citi Field in August and I was impressed. It looks alot nicer than the philth's CBP. At least at Citi you will not get murdered!

9-07-2009 @ 7:14AM

Porkchop said...

Just read the other users comments that support the writer slowboda. Your just mad cause your team decided to choke in the middle of season instead of the last week and dont reply with the injury crybaby crap neither.

9-07-2009 @ 1:04PM

MaggieMac said...

The New York Post must be Phillies fans, too, since they wrote about the same thing. Either that, or Citi Field is a falling down piece of crap.

9-06-2009 @ 7:25PM

Not a Philly fan at all. Big time Met fan from when I was about 10 in 1976. The new stadium (can't call it by it's new taxpayer subsidized name) is nice overall. But, bird poop and nesting pigeons are most unwelcome additions that can and should be dealt with effectively. They will eventually start to cause other damage to the property--to say nothing of the health risks of droppings falling into food and drinks.

9-06-2009 @ 7:29PM

zodiac killer said...

Yeah, they just don't build them like they used to!

9-06-2009 @ 8:07PM

Ralph Garcia said...

Jerry, you should be a Yankee fan. Everything is first class. I'm so glad to be a Yankee fan. I may have it great living in Miami but I'm going to take my vacations to New York city especially to make the trip to watch my Yankees play. GO YANKEES!!!!!

9-06-2009 @ 10:03PM

Stevo said...

wow, you can smell the douchbaggery emanating from you through the computer screen

9-07-2009 @ 6:42AM

Jim said...

Perfect! First the team falls apart and now the stadium. LMAO! New York Sucks!

9-07-2009 @ 5:48PM

tonytiger18 said...

Man, the Mets from the top down are spiraling down every day with some new problematic issue.

What a sorry poorly managed organization.
Maybe Willie Randolph put a hex on them when they let him go for this chump Manuel.
They have a cluelees GM, owners that aren't involved in the operation of their team or stadium, a manger that is a bafoon, and players getting hurt by the wind.

Even when healthy, the players on the Mets were despised by the rest of the league and so overated.

Wilpons should sell the team to someone who cares.

9-07-2009 @ 10:22PM

Michael said...

I AGREE!!! FRED, JEFF....PLEASE SELL THE TEAM!!!

9-24-2009 @ 8:19AM

B-Man said...

It's very simple, the Mets need owners like Steinbrenner, Jerry Jones, Mark Cuban.These are people who are dedicated to winning and do not tolerate failure at all. The Mets don't have an edge to them because ownership doesn't care. Look at the Phillies, they used to be the laughing-stock of the NL, but now they are one of the most feared teams to play-the reason-heart. I think it's time to clean house;get rid of all the high-priced players and start from scratch. I'd rather see a team of journeymen and rookies go 65 and 88 than these so-called "superstars" who whine and cry and just plain malinger. The bottom line is the Yankees will always own NY because they are simply the cream-the Mets are the Coffee Mate-no wait the generic creamer!-they don't deserve any top shelf reference. They've always been second fiddle (1969 and 1986 not withstanding). Think about this-the Marlins won 2 WS in 11 years and field a competitve team every year because their players have heart. The Braves won 14 straight divisions, 5 pennants, and 1 championship. Even the Rockies won a pennant and they did this without all of the high-priced gutless wonders that now inhabit the 1 billion dollar ballpark that's now falling apart because the Wilpons have no pride in the team they field. The Mets are the Edsel, Le Car, Yugo, and Trabant of professional sports! At least the Yankees represent New York with dignity, class and of course 39 pennants, 26 championships, and legendary players that know the honor that comes with wearing the pinstripes.

10-19-2009 @ 2:00PM

Tommymet said...

Jerry doesn't tolerate failure? Dude, you're cracking me up.

10-14-2009 @ 7:07AM

Anthony said...

give santana to yankees and start from scratch

10-14-2009 @ 7:18AM

mets need roy holiday matt holiday and prince fielder.more better pitching.get rid of castio tati murphy and delgado hes old.trade 2 kansas city.they would have been better having disney characters playing outfield.change stupid name,mets to regrets.