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• The New York Yankees began playing in their new ballpark in 2009. The new Yankee Stadium is located across the street from the original Yankee Stadium but the new stadium will feature the Yankee Stadium name.

  The stadium officially opened on April 16, 2009, as the Yankees hosted the Cleveland Indians.Official Site: Yankee Stadium To Be Inaugurated With First-Ever Regular Season Game (April 14, 2009)l

  Despite speculation to the contrary, AccuWeather.com issued a statement on June 9, 2009, that 20 of the 105 home runs hit so far at the new Yankee Stadium were "caused by shorter dimensions, not weather" and would not have happened at the old Yankee Stadium.NY Post: Yankee Stadium homer surge blamed on dimensions (June 9, 2009)

• Fast Facts

  1. Location: One E. 161st St., Bronx, New York 10451
  2. Broke ground: August 18, 2006
  3. April 16, 2009: Opening game; NY Yankees lost to the Cleveland Indians 2-10 http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/schedule/...
  4. Surface: Grass
  5. Capacity: 53,000 (51,000 plus 2,000 standing room only)
  6. Features 16 elevators
  7. Cup holders at each seat
  8. Visible from Interstate 87

• Characteristics

  Construction on the new Yankee Stadium began in 2006 and the structure is slated to be completed by Opening Day, 2009. According to the plans for the stadium, it will retain the same dimensions of the original ballpark. The stadium will also restore the original frieze which ran the extent of the ballpark's upper deck before 1973. The outside of the stadium will be surrounded by a wall, within which will be located over one million square feet of retail space for stores, vendors, and other businesses. The stadium will feature 60 luxury boxes, a nearly fourfold increase over the current stadium; and the stadium will be constructed so that fans will be lower down, but further away from the action than they would have been at the original park.

• Attempted Cursing

  Sometime after construction began on the stadium in 2006, a worker, Gino Castignoli, in an attempt to curse the new park, buried a jersey bearing the name of Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz beneath what would become the new Yankee dugout. Word of Castignoli's deed leaked out, however, and in 2008, the jersey was exhumed from its grave and given to the Jimmy Fund. Placed on eBay, the jersey sold for $175,000, with all proceeds benefiting the charity.

• Over-budget

  On January 15, 2009, the Yankees requested $370 million in additional tax-exempt bonds to help them cover cost overruns. Despite fierce debate at the Industrial Development Agency, the New York Times reported that approval seemed "inevitable".New York Times: Joking, but Also Jabbing, at Yankee Bond Hearing (January 16, 2009)

• Related Pages on Mahalo

  Yankee Stadium | New York Yankees | George Steinbrenner | Major League Baseball | Gino Castignoli

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