The Mets' new $850 million stadium is already falling apart, a news report said today.
Less than a season old, Citi Field has been plagued by water damage to several luxury suites, and is suffering from mold, flooding in outfield seats, faulty electrical wiring and shoddy tile work, sources told the New York Post.
Loyal Mets fan Jerry Seinfeld's pricey suite is among those suffering, the Post said. The posh boxes rent for $250,000 to $500,000 a year.
Not surprisingly, people tasked with assessing the damage have taken to calling it "Sh- - -y Field," the Post said.
Sources said other problems have turned Mets maintenance crews into the team's real five-tool stars.
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.
Sports
Among the issues:
* 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.
