Citi Field

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Saying that Citi Field is an improvement over Shea Stadium is an understatement akin to calling Tom Seaver a simply solid pitcher. Opened in 2009, the baseball-only stadium has a retro design with a brick façade and lots of exposed steel, as has become the norm in the major leagues. Its main entrance, the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, evokes the design of Brooklyn's long-lost Ebbets Field, while the second deck in right field hangs over the warning track like in Detroit's Tiger Stadium. The ballpark provides for some unique seating areas (a section in right-center field consists of tables and chairs oriented toward the field) as well as some great photo ops (near the giant "42"�Robinson's jersey number�in the rotunda or by the old home-run apple from Shea Stadium, which has been relocated just inside the Bullpen Gate entrance). The space also presents an opportunity to do some up-close heckling: All that separates fans and the opposing bullpen are about twenty feet and two chain-link fences. There are restaurants and premium dining options throughout�particularly on the Excelsior level�but Danny Meyer's abridged-menu Shake Shack is open to anyone and housed alongside his barbecue favorite, Blue Smoke, in a concession stand topped with the skyline that once graced the Shea scoreboard. — Joe DeLessio

An area behind the scoreboard has batting cages and a whiffle-ball field (dubbed Kiddie Field), as well as a dunk tank where kids can try to soak Mets staffers wearing the opposing team’s jersey.

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