SHEA STADIUM

Shea Stadium is located in Queens, right next to the Flushing Meadows Tennis Center (home of the U.S. Open) and La Guardia Airport. You can get there by riding the 7 train, the subway made famous by New York favourite John Rocker, which lets you off right in front of the ballpark. However, there is nothing around the stadium, just some parking lots and the tennis center next door - so make sure to eat before arriving.

Shea is one of the few remaining cookie-cutter stadiums left, and out of them, it may be the most colourful. There are four seating levels, each with a different seating colour. The field level is orange, the loge blue, the mezzanine section is green, and the upper deck is painted red. Each seating level has its own concourse, and they are a bit narrow, but large enough to accommodate the crowds. There are no views of the field from any of the concourses.

Four seating levels visible here

Having said that, the seats themselves are not very good. Because the lower level seats go so far back,  all the upper levels seats are too far away from the action, and the sight lines are not that good. And don't try to move down to either - you cannot enter the field level without a ticket, which is very frustrating if you are trying to get some good action shots. 

The back rows of the loge and mezzanine sections are only $12, the same price as the upper level, but the overhang obstructs much of the view and is annoying, so we don't advise purchasing these seats. We suggest buying a cheap upper deck seat and then hanging around the field level once the game begins - you should be able to find a couple of empty seats. 

Food here is OK, with some brand-name fast food chains plying their wares. In the right field corner on field level you will find Dunkin Donuts and Baskin-Robbins, among others. Maps of concession stands are available on each level - the best concession was probably the roasted nuts and churro stand behind home plate on the mezzanine level. For those of you with a hankering for more substantial stuff, try Casey's Bar on the loge level behind section 11; the Budweiser Backstop on the field level is another bar.

If you arrive early enough, walk around the ballpark. You are not able to get into the left field bleacher section, apparently tickets are only sold for groups of 30 or more, but the rest of the park is accessible before the game. Take the escalators up to the upper level and look west, where you can watch airplanes taking off as well as see a great view of the Manhattan skyline as the sun sets behind it. Take the ramps back down, stopping at each level to check the out the different views. Again, try to get to field level before the game starts if you want some good pictures.

From Shea

There really aren't any features that are worth your time - some banners with pictures of famous Mets are hanging around the concourse, and of course, the Home Run Apple that rests beyond the right field fence and appears whenever a Met cracks a dinger. Around the top of the stadium are the team pennants for both leagues, as well as the lights which are housed inside the metal facing along the entire roof area.

The roof

Next to the Home Run Apple, the right field scoreboard seems to be one of the largest in the majors, but most of it is advertising. Both teams lineups are displayed vertically, as are the out-of-town scores, but the main scoreboard is very small, and doesn't give a lot of in-game information. There is also a video screen above left field. 

There are the usual promotions with scoreboard races and the like, but on Saturday night, you get a special introduction that parodies the Saturday Night Live introduction, with Mets players being announced as the "stars" of the show - unique and entertaining, if only for a minute.

Overall, however, Shea is not a good park. The majority of the seats are simply too far away or lack good sightlines. The constant roar of jets overhead is annoying, and it takes a long time to move between levels. But the fans here are very good, they know the game of baseball very well and root heartily for their Mets. I only wish that they had a better park to call home - if you go to New York, we recommend Yankee Stadium over Shea and suggest you wait until a new park is built for the Mets.