What Giants and Jets Fans Will Do to Get to the Game

Jets fan Tom Infusino, likes to drive his motorized beer cooler right down the busy highways leading to the New Meadowlands Stadium before The Big Game.

As for all of the trucks he has to dodge, he takes them in stride.

"They're all right, they usually beep and that's about it," said Infusino, of Montville, N.J. whose cooler on a modified go-kart held a 12 pack of Rolling Rock and a few bottles of a German beer.

But for many fans who, because of Personal Seat Licenses and the parking permits that go with them, can no longer park at the stadium, hoofing it a mile or more is the most expeditious way of getting to the stadium.

Unfortunately, the transportation whizzes at the New Jersey Department of Transportation planned only on cars arriving at the stadium -- not actual people trying to walk there.

And that means a lot of jaywalking, and for police in East Rutherford, a lot of jaywalking tickets.

For Sunday's opening Giant's game, that was about 30 tickets.

And it worked, sort of.

For Bronx-born Eric Rodriguez, who was at Sunday's Giants game, all those police were what kept him from scaling a fence to take the long hike to his parked car in Carlstadt.

"We almost had to, to get out of there," Rodriguz said as he jaywalked his way to the Jets game Monday night.

"We spent about an hour and a half just trying to get out of the gates," he explained.

Police are close to tearing their hair out over the dangerous mix of cars and jaywalkers, especially after a bad accident a few months ago for a big soccer match at the new stadium.

"People just don't want to wait," said East Rutherford Deputy Police Chief Ed Bury about the long lines for shuttle buses after each game. "Everybody's in a hurry," he added.

We watched Lennry Brossoit of Baltimore dodge trucks on busy Washington Avenue on his way to the Jets Game.

"It's like a good game of Frogger," Brossoit said, "Just hop on through, you might get hit, you might not."

Follow Brian Thompson on Twitter @brian4NY

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