Send out the clowns!!!!!

[Mex17]

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/04/01/mets-fans-angry-over-opening-day-parking-fiasco-at-citi-field/

This is yet another example of why success eludes this organization on a regular basis. . .because of shortsighted ridiculous decisions like this which completely screw over their customers that no one else with half a brain or any common sense would ever even conceptualize. This is the parking lot for your baseball stadium. You KNOW that, starting on March 31st, there will be games on the schedule in your stadium that people are going to come to and watch. Many if not most of these people are going to drive to the stadium and will need to park their cars. So why in the name of Gil Hodges do you think that it is a good idea to allow f'n CIRQUE DU SOLEIL to take residence in your parking lot until May 18th?!?!?!?! In what universe does that make a shred of sense? Could it possibly be because that some people might not actually be wealthy enough to actually operate their multi-million dollar business venture properly or on the level, so they are desperate for any kind of alternate revenue stream possible? Why does my team have to be owned by a trio of stubborn, brain-dead, tone-deaf, broke idiots? Why does the Commissioner of Major League Baseball protect these aforementioned idiots while going out of his way to run out on a rail other owners who commit similar acts of sheer stupidity? Where is David Einhorn or Mark Cuban when you need them?

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

They've had this thing out there for at least a few years now, so it's not news. Also not news that stadium is accessible to millions via public transportation.

[Ceetar]

Also not news that except for Opening Day that parking lot isn't even going to approach full.

Also people park in the lot for the US Open too. How dare they.

It's taking up a relatively small spot all things considered. the Mets lot is probably one of the biggest in baseball, at least in terms of actually adjacent to the ballpark.

[metirish]

Yeah, several games I attended last season had the clowns there...plus CIRQUE DU SOLEIL in the parking lot.....it was inconvenient. Can't imagine how bad it was for Opening Day.

[Mex17]

If by "relatively small" you mean "enough to cause a huge problem on Opening Day", then you are absolutely correct.

I have never heard of or seen circus tents in CitiField's parking lot during the baseball season in previous years. I noticed these a few weeks ago when driving past and figured that they would be gone by Opening Day.

What if you don't want to take public transportation? I took the LIRR to a game once and had to leave early so that I could catch the train home, which caused me to miss Marlon Anderson's inside the park homerun and subsequent Mets win. Few things in life are more tedious then wanting to get the heck home only to have to endure stopping at every single point between NYC and Huntington. Fewer things in life are more infuriating to me than getting to a destination only to find that there is no place to park your freaking car!

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

PSST! THERE'S FREE PARKING IN CORONA, A SHORT WALK ACROSS THE GCP, AND FREE/CHEAP SPOTS AT THE MALL 1000 FEET DOWN ROOSEVELT AVENUE AND-- wait, why am I telling you my spots?

[Ceetar]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: PSST! THERE'S FREE PARKING IN CORONA, A SHORT WALK ACROSS THE GCP, AND FREE/CHEAP SPOTS AT THE MALL 1000 FEET DOWN ROOSEVELT AVENUE AND-- wait, why am I telling you my spots?

the close spots in Corona were pretty packed. I got there at 10:05 and I had to park a block up.

But yeah, there's plenty of parking. Yes, those extra 500? 1000? spots would've been nice, but it in no way would've alleviated the clusterfuck that is 44k people trying to get to the same place at once with traffic cops determined to direct you away from them that happens every single year without fail. I mean, I learned to, and how, to avoid that mess before I was old enough to drink.

One year, and this was probably 2005 or so, I headed to a Subway Series game and ended up parking all the way out near the unisphere and it was a 12 minute walk to Shea and I easily missed the first inning and ended up literally driving through Flushing Meadows Park to some random exit to get out.

I parked in the lot for the Home Run Derby, with the same space taken up by a different set of tents AND another chunk taken up by some sort of race track. Actually my wife parked fine because I met her there. and she's never driven to Citi Field before, and managed just fine. It got real messy on the way out with the cops just flat out refusing to let us towards the GCP West that ended up costing me an hour. (should've driven around the cops)

This stuff is always a clusterfuck. Half the people have no idea where they're going. Cops are there to keep cars moving more than actually direct them anywhere productive.

[Edgy MD]

Mex17 wrote: What if you don't want to take public transportation?

Then caveat emptor. New York and traffic is a tough mix. Always has been.

There are two types of games as far I'm concerned: games I made in time for the first pitch and/or ceremonies, and games where I arrived saying "I probably should have planned this better --- my bad." Life in the city. But there's a ton of info letting folks know the most convenient options.

I arrived in time for the third pitch once, and John Maine was already out of the game --- and his Mets career, as it would turn out. That's on me.

[Farmer Ted]

They used to do this clown stuff for Cirque on Randall's Island. Yeah, weird, or at least put it on the other side of the tracks at the tennis center.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Pulaski Skyways closes for 2 years starting next week. Please adjust your travel time to Big Shea

[Ceetar]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Pulaski Skyways closes for 2 years starting next week. Please adjust your travel time to Big Shea

2 years!?

[Farmer Ted]

Bigger fear of clowns is getting stuck on the Pulaski and dragged into the swamplands to a gruesome death.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Ceetar wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Pulaski Skyways closes for 2 years starting next week. Please adjust your travel time to Big Shea 2 years!?

Yup. NY bound only. Visiting the mother-in-law is gonna suck a lot more, since we almost have to use 78 to get there.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Big Shea?

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Big Shea. I'll never get used to saying "Citifield." Makes me feel icky.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Mex17 wrote: If by "relatively small" you mean "enough to cause a huge problem on Opening Day", then you are absolutely correct. I have never heard of or seen circus tents in CitiField's parking lot during the baseball season in previous years.

It was there last opening day too. I think it's funny, have
trouble getting outraged over such silliness.

The parking lots are part of the city park system. It would
be funny if it's actually The Parks Commision or whatever it's
called is really to blame and not the mean ol' Wilpeeze.

[Ceetar]

d'Kong76 wrote: Mex17 wrote: If by "relatively small" you mean "enough to cause a huge problem on Opening Day", then you are absolutely correct. I have never heard of or seen circus tents in CitiField's parking lot during the baseball season in previous years. It was there last opening day too. I think it's funny, have trouble getting outraged over such silliness. The parking lots are part of the city park system. It would be funny if it's actually The Parks Commision or whatever it's called is really to blame and not the mean ol' Wilpeeze.

I doubt the Wilpons are the ones hiring the traffic cops in charge of directing people to the lots.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

From the linked story:

Linda from Flushing said she left her house at noon for the short trip to the ballpark. It took her about 15 minutes and then she snaked around the stadium �for an hour and a half, only to wind up parking by Home Depot.� Linda said the trek from her spot was no picnic either, and it was the bottom of the fourth inning before she got to her seat.

If you drive from Flushing to Citifield you deserve whatever parking fiasco you find yourself in. You can walk there for god sakes. A train from Main Street literally takes 90 seconds.

[Edgy MD]

Ceetar wrote: I doubt the Wilpons are the ones hiring the traffic cops in charge of directing people to the lots.

But I totally see Saul Katz ALL OVER that Pulaski Skyway fiasco.

[ashie62]

I am afraid of clowns....

[Edgy MD]

I'm afraid of Linda.

[G-Fafif]

Flushing is actually geographically expansive enough so that driving to Citi Field on a "normal" day, except for how much it would cost to park in official lots, wouldn't be crazy. But it's Opening Day, Linda. Find a spot/use a lot downtown and take that 90-second trip.

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

or get there crazy early to tailgate with friends, walk over to the Unisphere, pose by the Home Run Apple, look for my brick on the Fan Walk, walk across the street to buy some suspiciously pre-owned hub caps and enjoy a full day at the ballpark.

People who expect to arrive just before the first pitch miss out on a lot of fun.

[Ceetar]

Citi Field A to Z guide actually has different directions to the park if you're arriving close to first pitch.

[Lefty Specialist]

For those arriving after dark, beware of creepy clowns.

[Edgy MD]

Lefty Specialist giving us just ONE of the many helpful hints from the Citi Field AZ Guide.