April 14, 2008
Smokers Strike Out at Shea
Smoking sports fans beware, Shea Stadium is cracking down on the nicotine set this season. While the Smoke-Free Air Act has been in effect for 13 years, security at the stadium has turned a blind eye to those lighting up -- but that's all changing. The Observer reports on one fan's encounter with the new guard:
“A security guard told me I can’t smoke and then ripped off a piece of my ticket,” the 26-year-old fan from Deer Park, Long Island fumed. “If they were going to take away my season tickets, I wouldn’t dare try to sneak a cigarette. But if they’re just going to keep giving me warnings, then I’m going to keep smoking.”This marks the first season in 44 years that the law is being enforced in the ballpark. Another fan chimes in on how things worked in previous years, saying smoking by the ramp outside and away from seated fans was always "the rule". However, last month this press release showed up on the team's site, saying, "The New York Mets today announced that Shea Stadium will become smoke-free during the Mets' final season in their longtime home. The 2008 smoking prohibition will encompass all areas within Shea, including the ramps."
So why is this all happening now? In an effort to get fans prepared for the move to Citi Field -- the sanitized new home of the Mets, where smokers won't stand a chance. Time to buy some Nicorette! And you might as well quit drinking too, Shea just raised their beer prices to 8 bucks.
Photo via bayridgephantom's flickr.
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as long as I can still curse and say racist and sexist rants against the opposing team and fans It's all good.
I can't smoke on the ramps? Even if I'm burning my seasons tickets? Grrrrrrrr...............
That's weird that they're not even allowing people to light up on the ramps.
i was at opening day and there were plenty of people smoking on the ramps, including myself....
I was at the game on Sunday and plenty of people were smoking on the ramps the entire game outside the Mezz and upper deck sections.
If the government wants people to stop smoking why don't they just make it illegal. That seems to have worked well with marijuana and alcohol.
Reality Czech: Population control.
Yeah, I'm sure this kid's peers are all about Archie Bunker. Bunk is actually a synonym for sh*tty, so Bunkless is really a high compliment.
$8? At least it's not the $9.50 they're raping Yankees fans for at the Stadium.
Interesting. I had this weird idea that you could smoke on the ramps at Shea because they were considered a separate, open-air structure than the the rest of the stadium (I love arcane crap like that). I didn't realize that I was actually breaking the law, breaking the law, breaking the law.
Population control? If that were the case it'd be easier to just put arsenic in the water.
My usual pre-game ritual for the past eight years has been to get a beer and smoke a cigar while doing the crossword puzzle on the ramp between the DIamond Club and the Mezzanine. This year I can't do that. So no more $8 beer and instead of standing still for an hour I've walked around Flushing Meadow Park. Maybe I'll get in shape.