Petey, you'll never believe what I came across today. Maybe you already saw it.
Today's New York Post....
Meet the mess.
The Mets' new $850 million stadium is breaking down at about the same rate as its beleaguered lineup, the Post has learned.
Less than a season old, Citi Field has been plagued by water damage to several luxury suites -- including Jerry Seinfeld's -- as well as mold, falling signs and concrete, flooding in outfield seats, faulty electrical wiring and shoddy tile work, sources said.
City Field opened amid high expectations, but The Post discovered countless repair problems that hit premium-paying superfans like Jerry Seinfeld (above) as well as bleacher creatures.
"Yankees fans must have built the place," an insider scoffed.
"Sh- - -y Field -- that's what we call it."
Perhaps the biggest bungle is a water leak that sprang in early August, the source said, creating mold in Seinfeld's lavish suite and three others nearby.
The posh boxes rent for $250,000 to $500,000 a year.
The problem was so bad that repairmen were forced to tear down walls in the suites on Aug. 9 to search for the source of the leak while the Mets were on a seven-game road trip, a source said.
"I think Jerry's a Yankees fan now," a neighboring suite-holder joked of Seinfeld, who was not available for comment.
Sources said other problems have turned Mets maintenance crews into the team's real five-tool stars. Among the problems:
* A nonworking elevator last week that forced Mets owner Fred Wilpon to climb four flights to his office.
* An outfield section known as "Mo's Zone" flooding in a rainstorm three months ago because drains were clogged. The backup was caused by 20 feet of pipe collapsing in the bullpen.
* A 4-by-6-foot illuminated sign falling in the field-level promenade during an off day.
* Electricity in the kitchen above the ticket booths near the rotunda shorting out. One outage caused the refrigerators to fail and water to leak into the ticket booths.
* A piece of concrete breaking off; it's now sitting in a field crew's office.
* Air conditioning and heating in the maintenance crew's locker room that hasn't worked since Day 1.
* Improperly installed electrical outlets. There is only one socket in the team's laundry room, so a power strip is needed to plug in all the washing machines.
* A black granite capstone on the stadium's ground-level façade falling off. Yesterday, Mets workers were spotted fixing the broken tile.
* Soaked seats in another luxury suite caused by a leaky ceiling during a rainy Mets-Yankees game. Crews carrying buckets, mops and towels paraded into the suite all night to stem the tide.
Even before the 42,500-seat ballfield opened in April, there were signs of trouble. In January The Post spotted rust on a beam running down the wall of the front entrance.
Dave Howard, the Mets' executive vice president of business operations, acknowledged some of the problems, but called them minor and not unexpected.
"Any suggestion that Citi Field is less than an elite, world-class entertainment facility is flat-out inaccurate and unfounded," he said.
"When you open a building with 1.2 million square feet, you're going to have issues like this," he added. "Whether it's a leak or a circuit tripping, you have a punch list of items. There were thousands on the list, mostly minor things.
"That is a routine matter in a major building . . . Nothing on that list had any effect on the enjoyment of the fans and their experience."
A spokeswoman for Xerox, which rents the suite adjacent to Seinfeld's, said, "We've had absolutely no problems with our suite this season."
Howard confirmed luxury-suite leaks but said the walls were mold-resistant. He also said Wilpon's elevator had not failed but was momentarily unusable while technicians tested its backup generator. He denied that the air conditioning in the maintenance crew's locker room was on the fritz.
Assemblyman Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester), who criticized the city Industrial Development Agency over its deal to give the Mets and Yankees tax-free bonds to build new stadiums, said there should be an assessment of the stadium's condition now that the inaugural season is drawing to a close.
"Taxpayer money is going to build the stadiums for these wealthy private entities, and it's not clear that anyone is checking on anything," Brodsky said. "No one knows who's accountable."
The city and state issued $697 million in tax-free bonds to finance the construction of the throwback-style ballpark resembling Ebbets Field. Under the deal, the Mets pay off the bonds, but save on interest and taxes.
Contractor Hunt-Bovis built Citi Field over two years. Federal prosecutors are investigating whether Bovis overbilled for work performed at the stadium.
Additional reporting by Kathianne Boniello
Citi Field
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