The Bronx fascinates me. I lived there twice - once as a little girl in a residential part of the borough and then later, as a young wife while my husband was doing his residency at a large city hospital. It is a strange borough that has this elevated subway train running south into Grand Central Station in Manhattan. The structure is old and very loud -- nothing "green" about the EL...probably nothing "green" about the Bronx at all. The Grand Concourse which is a few blocks east of the stadium had once been lined with trees and staid apartment houses that had elegant facades, blending with the WPA architecture of the Bronx County Courthouse. Directly around the stadium are Yankee apparel stores and sports bars, "Stan's Sports Bar" being the most notable. Sausage and hot dog vendors circle the promenade around the structure like covered wagons and there is this distinct scent of fried onions in the air. After a game, the area resounds with Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" and it is on the rare occassion that Liza Minella's rendition is played. I prefer listening to Sinatra.
If I have the time, I will park my car a few miles away and take the EL to the stadium. THAT'S the best way of going to a ballgame in "da Bronx." It's a colorful party on the tracks on the way home if they win and totally funereal if the Yanks lose. I have been driving to the stadium lately for that reason alone. ~ JN, May 2007