What Is The One Thing You Would Change About Citi Field?
Besides fielding a championship caliber team year after year, what is the one thing you'd change about Citi Field?
Our buddy Mat Syndergaard (no relation) posed this question on his Facebook wall, and we shared it on our social channels.
Hundreds of responses on Facebook and Twitter ranged from adding partitions between the urinals, erecting Seaver/Piazza statues, abolishing Bark In The Park, painting the Shea Bridge blue, giving away free beer after Mets losses, getting rid of the Home Run Apple, and everything you might imagine in between.
The response that came up the most focused around the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. I don't think anyone is trying to downplay Jackie's importance to both baseball and society, but he wasn't a Met, and that bothers some people.
The Jackie Robinson Rotunda is the main entrance to Citi Field and focuses on his many achievements. It's a beautiful display of photos and quotes with a large 42 as the centerpiece.
When Citi Field opened in 2009, we know the place wasn't very Metsie. The Great Wall Of Flushing was black, Shea Stadium's HR apple was hidden under the Shea Bridge near the Bullpen Entrance, and you'd be hard pressed to find much orange and blue throughout the place. The team listened, and they've since corrected all that.
The rotunda is a different story. I don't think the team can just take back a dedicated space. It'd be pretty hard to pull the plug without disrespecting Jackie's memory. Some love it, and some don't. Either way, it's probably here to stay, so get used to it.
Personally, if I was in charge one of my main concerns would be the bathroom lines. For the most part, the ballpark itself is beautiful, but it's an issue every time the Mets have a big game. Which we know hasn't been all that often. On days like Opening Day or the playoffs in 2015, the lines are brutal. I'd miss entire innings waiting to use the bathroom.
What if the Mets start drawing well across all 81 games? That'd be great, and I'd love to see Citi Field full, but are fans going to put up with missing entire innings in the process because of bathroom lines? It's something that needs to be figured out. When the place is maxed out, there just aren't enough bathrooms. I'm sure there was some formula used to figure out how many bathrooms were needed for a capacity crowd when they built the place, but maybe the architects didn't account for how many fans were going to hang around the field level instead of at their seats? Not sure, but hopefully the team can figure it out after the fact.
Just an idea, but at Nassau Coliseum they add porta potties during Islanders games. Not really ideal, but that'd help improve the flow. No pun intended. I remember the Cubs went that way at Wrigley a few years back when their new construction wasn't complete. Could be a temporary solution at least.
I'm sure the Mets read fans feedback, so keep 'em coming.