How About The “William A. Shea ATM” — Sorry — The “William A. Shea Citibank ATM”?

Even if Bill Shea loses out entirely, at least Jackie Robinson will get a rotunda:

A rotunda honoring the life of Jackie Robinson, Citibank A.T.M.’s, a 41 percent increase in concessions and enough restaurant capacity to feed 3,134 people are among the features planned for the Mets’ new ballpark, Citi Field, which is scheduled to replace Shea Stadium in 2009, the team announced yesterday.

Gov. George E. Pataki, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and other politicians joined the Mets’ principal owner, Fred Wilpon, and several team officials and players yesterday for a ceremonial groundbreaking on a new 42,500-seat stadium. The design for the stadium is inspired by Ebbets Field, the former home of the Brooklyn Dodgers, and is expected to cost nearly $800 million.

Under a 20-year sponsorship deal with Citigroup, the stadium will be named Citi Field, displacing the name of William A. Shea. Shea, a lawyer, helped bring National League baseball back to New York in 1962, five years after the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants left. Shea Stadium opened in 1964.

The Mets have encountered some criticism for not naming the new stadium for Robinson, the Dodgers legend who broke baseball’s color barrier in 1947, but Wilpon said fans would be welcomed into the soaring Jackie Robinson Rotunda, inscribed with this quotation from Robinson: “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” The rotunda will include a statue, still to be designed, and an exhibition on Robinson’s life.

A rotunda is a very thoughtful way to remember the man who broke the color barrier in baseball. Almost as thoughtful as a plaza.

Shea And The Citi

Who was William A. Shea anyway?* Now it doesn’t matter:

Citigroup Inc. will put its name on the Mets’ new stadium in a deal reportedly worth $20 million a year, sources close to the negotiations said yesterday.

“CitiField” — as the new ballpark will be called — is scheduled to be ready by the 2009 season and will be located right next to the old Shea in Flushing.

The Mets plan a groundbreaking ceremony on Monday and sources told Bloomberg News they will officially reveal the new name then.

. . .

Bloomberg News reported that Citigroup — the nation’s biggest bank — may be paying as much as $20 million a year for the honor of gracing the 2006 National League Eastern Division champs’ new stomping grounds.

. . .

The stadium’s new name was first reported on the Internet blog hotfoot.metsblog.com, where a reader wrote that his father was working on the new ballpark and noticed a sign at the construction site that read, “CitiField: Coming in 2009.”

*It’s never too late to learn!

Domino’s In Brooklyn? Fuhgeddaboudit

You needed the Dining Section to tell you that Domino’s new “Brooklyn Style Pizza” tastes like dookie? Apparently:

At Totonno’s in Coney Island, pizza has been made the same way since 1924. Along with its Brooklyn pizza brethren Di Fara’s, Grimaldi’s and Franny’s, Totonno’s is considered among the best in the country by people who have dedicated their lives to the subject.

We purchased our Domino’s pie just a few blocks away from Totonno’s on Neptune Avenue. That it was handed to us over bulletproof glass turned out to be the most authentically Brooklyn part about it.

Domino’s, which began selling Brooklyn Style pies at its 5,100 United States stores last week, designed the pizza to mimic what most New Yorkers get when they go for a slice. The crust is stretched thinner than that of a standard Domino’s pizza, and the cornmeal cooked into the crust gives it certain crispness. The pieces of pepperoni and wads of sausage the company suggests as toppings are freakishly large.

The slices are so big you can fold them, which, it seems, is the Brooklyn-y part.

. . .

Domino’s uses its standard sauce and a blend of mozzarella and provolone on the Brooklyn Style Pizza. At most slice stores in Brooklyn, you won’t find cornmeal on the crust, and the cheese is usually a blend of shredded part skim and whole milk mozzarella. The typical sauce is usually not as sweet as Domino’s, but it doesn’t compare with Totonno’s.

Brooklyn boosters seem to have a thin skin* about Domino’s new pizza, resorting to trotting out old tropes about the company:

As part of the marketing of [Brooklyn pizza eating] culture, Domino’s has started a couple of contests. One is a drawing for a vintage New York taxi, even though everyone knows it’s almost impossible to hail a cab in Brooklyn.

The rest of the marketing blitz rests on television ads and on a Web site, www.brooklynstylepizza.com, which features characters purchased at the Brooklyn Stereotype Store.

An older Italian woman yells out of a brownstone window. A man with the look of an extra from “The Sopranos” pumps iron on the roof. A Rosie O’Donnell lookalike berates a taxi driver for not folding his slice like a man. And there’s an African-American guy. You can’t hear what he’s saying because the rap music pouring from his car speakers is too loud.

That kind of imagery just grinds at Marty Markowitz, the Brooklyn borough president.

“It’s a multinational right-wing company, mass marketing the Brooklyn attitude with obsolete ethnic stereotypes, not to mention flimsy crusts,” he said through a spokesman.

*In this respect, Brooklynites still lag behind Staten Islanders, who are still upset about their recent MTV exposure.

The World Can’t Get Enough Baked Dough

Today Forest Hills, tomorrow the world:

Knish Nosh has been a trademark of Forest Hills since 1952. Located at 100-30 Queens Boulevard at 67th Road, New York residents, out-of-towners, and native celebrities have sampled its timeless, century-old recipes in a cozy establishment with personable staff, and an aroma that not only goes out the door, but a taste that stimulates the mind. Now in its 55th year, Knish Nosh redefines itself as it expands to accommodate a new wave of foods that will be a perfect complement to the knish, or a novelty alone.

On an average day, Knish Nosh sells 4,000 knishes, and takes pride in promoting a healthy diet with its old school home-cooked meals.

“We serve a ‘feel good kind of food’ that’s inexpensive, all natural with no preservatives, and kosher,” says owner Haig Schneiderman, who lives on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. “The oil we use for our hand-rolled knishes contains no trans-fats or cholesterol. It’s Jewish soul food for all.”

. . .

When [Schneiderman] was 15, he asked, “Why is there only one Knish Nosh establishment?” He envisioned taking it over someday, and wondered what it would be like. On February 7, 2003, Haig’s dream became a reality.

“I occasionally hear ‘my mom used to take me here.’ People everywhere get connected because of eating knishes,” he said.

The community thanked him, especially since many classic neighborhood establishments have recently closed their doors. “Many people say that Forest Hills starts and ends with Knish Nosh,” said Schneiderman. “At the time, I said ‘Knish Nosh is going strong. I plan on bringing it to the next level, so it will be better than ever.’ I embraced the opportunity!”

. . .

Schneiderman considered franchising, but received over 400 calls within a short period of time. He then felt it was best to exclusively own any future restaurants, and keep it within the family-operated tradition. Speaking of the future, he stated, “In two decades from now, I see Knish Nosh in every major city throughout the U.S., like that of Dunkin’ Donuts. It will be throughout Florida, the east and west coast, and at ski resorts and kiosks countrywide.”

Schneiderman has already begun to fulfill his mission by opening a kiosk in Central park at the Harlem Meer near 5th Avenue and 106th Street, and another in Flushing Meadows Corona Park overlooking Meadow Lake. The latter has 40 seats, and is situated on the grounds of the 1939 and 1964 World’s Fair with views of the Unisphere. The first out-of-state Knish Nosh is scheduled to open in November in Delray Beach, Florida. Schneiderman plans to add an additional seven to ten restaurants over the next two years.

Shh . . . Don’t Let Bill O’Reilly Hear About This

The War on Christmas continues:

Santa Claus has been bumped.

Instead of having pride of place in the center of the Staten Island Mall, the Jolly Old Elf has been relegated to the JCPenney wing — separating him from the holiday congestion near the Christmas tree and train ride.

St. Nick also is being nudged out by two new kiosks installed in center court: Vonage, the online discount telephone company, and the Piercing Pagoda, which also has a kiosk in the Macy’s wing.

It’s a question of space, Mall general manager James Easley insists.

“Center court is always so crowded with . . . [long lines waiting] for Santa and the train. Moving Santa and his chair will allow us to accommodate a lot more people by spreading things out,” he said.

. . .

“These three things — the Christmas tree, the train and Santa — should be together,” said Patricia Leahy of Greenridge, mother of 3-year-old Christopher. “There is plenty of room in center court for a tree, Santa and the trains. I can’t figure out how Mall management thinks there is more room by JCPenney.”

At least Santa will be there, said Ms. Leahy, who e-mailed the Advance last week to check on what turned out to be a false report that Santa Claus would skip his appearance at the Mall in New Springville this year.

But she was skeptical about his new spot: “I personally think it is a way of de-Christmasing Christmas.”