Changes To Yankee Stadium For 2010 - A First Pass

Written by Ross Sheingold | 15 April 2010

In the second season of any stadium, there are changes.  In the case of Yankee Stadium, the changes are pretty minor and are mostly of interest to the most hardcore of stadium insiders and stadium foodies. Here are some of the changes that we have been able to find thus far. Thanks to all on Twitter and elsewhere who sent in tips.

• There is a new concession stand near section 109 called NYY Steak Express. It replaces the Latin food stand that sold the terrible cuban sandwich. Good riddance. It seems that NYY Steak wants a piece of the $15 steak sandwich market, as they have priced their sandwich at the same pricepoint as Lobel's. STEAK WARS!!! So far we have heard mixed reviews, but the "beef on weck" action they have going on is intriguing  Be on the lookout for an NYYSI steak sandwich showdown review in the next week or so. (Thanks to @gcf123 and @holyshityouguys for the photos. Thanks to @JayDestro for additional info)
  
  

Photo courtesy of the guys over at Burger Conquest, who wrote an awesome review of the stadium's food this week.

• The Yankees have added seats to the cafe tables in the Mohegan Sun Sports Bar and garlic fries are now on the menu: (thanks to @hsilverm11375 for this tip and photo)

• The Field Level food court now has something called "Pizza Fritta," which they were handing out free samples for. It was basically a flattened churro.  This stand replaces the horrendous Famiglia pizza This is not actual pizza - it is a desert food. It replaces Mike's Arthur Ave Italian deli.
• The Field Level food court also got rid of the Boar's Head stand (it moved down the right field line) and has replaced it with a margarita stand. Yup. Margaritas at the Yankee game. What has the world come to? [video forthcoming]
• The fruit stand now has a salad bar. Yum. [photo forthcoming]
• The Malibu Rum terrace party deck is not open.  They say it will open in May 2010. It appears that there will be a doorway onto a platform outside the stadium where there will be views of the South Bronx. Thrilling.
• As we covered in the standing room post, field level cafe seating areas have been extended into the outfield.
• The concourse of the terrace level is now equipped for standing room spots with bar-like surfaces to place food and drinks.  As we mentioned in our standing room only post, you can't see the field from most of these spots because of the people in front of you and the angle of the terrace seats.
• The terrace level now has something called "Latin Food," serving what appears to be a really watered down Arroz con Pollo ($10).
• It seems that Yankee Stadium has hired a significant amount of new staff that are physically handicapped or impaired in a number of ways. People in wheelchairs, impaired walking abilities, etc. - "How Can I Help You" people and other kinds of workers. Good to see the Yankees are equal opportunity employers.
• As Leonora mentioned the other day, those who complained that the out of town scoreboard only showed 4 games at a time and couldn't wait 5 seconds for the slide to change got their wish. The new scoreboard screen looks like a crappy MSDOS program with white on black text of scores and the jersey number of the pitchers and no graphics, no runners on base icon, team graphics, etc. It is like a bad flashback to the out of town scoreboard at the old Yankee Stadium.
• You can now pick up pictures from the Yankee Stadium Photo Program on-site (near the area where they had the old stadium memorabilia last year).  Last year, the photographers gave you a card and allowed you to pick up your photos online. [video forthcoming]
• The Yankees have decorated some of the concrete corridors with stick-on posters of the best Yankees players.  It isn't anything too elaborate, but it adds some life and is a very welcome addition. [video forthcoming]