Talk Bronx New York

If the bustle of unloading delivery trucks and the crowds of customers shouting orders over deli counters along Arthur Avenue in the Bronx are any indication, the recession still has not stopped a solid base of New Yorkers and tourists from spending to sate their cravings for fresh mozzarella, spicy salami and imported olive oils.
But business owners in the Bronx’s Little Italy, like David Greco, say that economic outlook from behind the deli counter is much more troubling.Mr. Greco, who took over his father’s business, Mike’s Deli, in the Arthur Avenue Retail Market 14 years ago, hustled in the boom years to promote and diversify the family business. He added a catering business that shipped out mammoth sandwiches to Wall Street traders celebrating banner profits and sandwiches for Yankee fans at the nearby stadium.

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 Artist’s rendering of Gate 2 entrance to Heritage Park, which would preserve part of old Yankee Stadium and put it to use for the new park

 Despite the opposition of baseball romantics and some Bronx residents, the city plans to dismantle the classic Gate 2 from the old Yankee Stadium.

“I think saving it is a good idea,” Sandra Mullen, 33, of the Bronx, said of the majestic entrance opposite the new Yankee Stadium.

“I like the old stadium from when I was a child. The new one is beautiful, but the old one was a classic.”

Boosters of the effort to save Gate 2 want it incorporated as the front door to the new Heritage Park, a 10-acre park slated to fill the footprint of the House That Ruth Built.

They’ve established a pro-Gate 2 Web site, featuring a 2-1/2-minute video presentation with their vision of the structure as a gateway to the new park.

Critics of the plan say Gate 2 is undeserving of rescue. Stabilizing and restoring the gate would cost $10 million, they say.

The “historic” gate was significantly changed when the Stadium was renovated in the mid-1970s, they note.

The Parks Department said there are plans to use other aspects of the old stadium - at least those pieces not peddled as pricey collectibles. Read more..

 

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Righty Chad Gaudin won his Yankee debut Wednesday, throwing two scoreless innings against the Blue Jays in an experience he said “words can’t explain.

“That’s what this game is about, finding what’s inside you,” said Gaudin, who allowed one hit and one walk while striking out three. The Yankees were prepared to let Gaudin throw as many as 85 pitches in extra innings, but were also happy he tossed only 44 because he is likely to start Sunday in Seattle.

“I knew I hadn’t pitched in a week, so I knew I could be stretched out there. I was ready to go the distance,” Gaudin said. “It’s big. Your first outing, first impression is usually pretty big. Everybody wishes for the same opportunity, and I got it, and it all worked out.”

BRONX CHEERS: Randy Ruiz says the homer he hit at the old Yankee Stadium doesn’t count since the Bronx product hit it while in high school at James Monroe. However, the two home runs Toronto’s infielder hit Tuesday and Wednesday at the new Yankee Stadium, however, certainly counted.

Playing in his hometown and in front of his friends and family after being called up Tuesday from Triple-A to replace Alex Rios, the 31-year-old smacked two home runs for the Blue Jays and went 3-for-9 over the two days. Ruiz’s two home runs were only the second and third of his career, which has involved bouncing around minor-league teams and two failed steroids tests.

“It feels great (to hit the home runs) especially in front of the family,” Ruiz said. “Unfortunately we lost the game, but hopefully I can contribute more for the team and maybe when I get an opportunity with runners in scoring position I can drive them in next time.” Read more..

 

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Even the cheap seats are getting cheaper.

It’s not just the top seats at the new Yankee Stadium that are selling poorly - tickets around the stadium are being resold online at prices well below face value, Crain’s New York reports.

Tickets for next Tuesday’s game against the Baltimore Orioles were listed for as little as $7 on fansnap.com, compared to $14 for the cheapest seats sold by the team directly.

At that rate, a ticket will cost you less than a beer at the spiffy new stadium.

Thirty-dollar grandstand seats are available for $11, and $50 seats in the outfield terrace section start at $17.

Faced with gaping blocks of empty seats, the Yankees cut the price of first-row Legends Suite seats from $2,500 to $1,250 last month. Read more..

 

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The new Yankee Stadium

 The veteran artist Charles Spurrier and I journeyed to the new Yankee Stadium for the first time last week to watch the Yankees play the Angels. As a boy, Charles used to make drawings of fans at Cleveland’s old Municipal Stadium in exchange for hot dogs and I attended many a classic tilt at the old Yankee Stadium, every year for exactly 50 years.

The theme of the new stadium could well be “It is not about the game,” so many are the detours and distractions, done in the style of Las Vegas, where the layout of the casinos is deliberately disorienting, so that you will quit trying to get back to your room and just sit down and gamble. During a late inning Yankee rally the other night, for example, 200 people waited on line to enter the Yankee Museum on the second deck, which is next to a museum of work by the team’s “official artist,” Peter Max!

 

The Stadium is laid out like an open air mall. Because ushers check you tickets, the time-honored practice of moving down to unoccupied seats, known as “flopping,” is prohibited, and little kids can no longer congregate in seats near the field during batting practice to catch foul balls or collect autographs (unless, of course, their parents shelled out thousands of dollars for these choice seats).

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