If I Only Knew That They Were Perfectly Clean, This Could Be Really Cool

They’re selling those grimy wooden benches that have sat on subway platforms for years:

Those iconic wooden subway benches — which have served straphangers and the homeless for generations — now can be yours for a mere $650.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will put decades-old benches up for sale as they are replaced by stainless steel models the authority is about to begin installing in stations.

“Get set to enjoy the ambiance of the New York City transit system,” Mike Zacchea, assistant chief operations officer with the NYC Transit division, said.

Faster, Nostaligia!

The Mets’ payroll depends on it:

In a decidedly odd online auction, the cash-strapped Mets are hawking seven separate chunks of the padded left-field wall, that’s been guarded by such “old-time” Amazin’s legends as Daniel Murphy and Jason Bay.

. . .

Citi Field’s nonhistoric left-field wall had always been 16 feet high, until the team decided to lower it eight feet in hopes of striking a more fair balance between pitchers and home-run hitters.

The soon-to-be-auctioned wall chunks are made up of two or seven panels, each section about 4 feet wide and 8 feet tall.

Location Scout: Citi Field.

Leave The Cold-Weather Games To Vince Lombardi And Steve Sabol Voiceovers On ESPN Classic

This is why God created domed stadiums:

The bid to host the 2014 Super Bowl at New Meadowlands Stadium, portions of which were obtained by The New York Times in advance of its Wednesday unveiling, dresses the Super Bowl in a giant “I Love New York” T-shirt, spinning even the prospect of bad weather as a chance to go “old school” and embrace a link to some of the N.F.L.’s storied cold-weather games.

Look At It This Way, It’s Not Nearly As Wasteful As The 7 Train Extension

Time was, NYC-TV served up glossy commercials for Manhattan businesses, er, attractions to entice potential visitors to visit our fair city (and before that there were the city council hearings!). Now it seems the mayor wants to take the channel in a different direction:

After his speech on environmental reform, reporters and photographers literally chased him through the conference center halls. His words and picture ran in more than 100 publications. New York’s dailies sent reporters who relayed hourly dispatches back home.

Despite this wall-to-wall coverage, the mayor’s office insisted that the city have its own camera crew on hand to record him. On December 12, a couple of days before the mayor flew out on his private jet, a pair of technicians from the city’s TV station, NYC Media, grabbed their camera equipment and took a taxi to Newark Airport. They paid an extra baggage charge to stow their gear, flew overnight to Copenhagen, put up at decent hotels, rented a car, and followed the mayor around, grabbing a bite when they could.

All told, the five-day trip cost $11,220. You can add another $1,500 for a week’s worth of wages for the hard-working cameramen who had to hustle through airports and foreign streets. Net benefit to the city? Their video footage ran for awhile on Channel 25’s “City Scoop” program. Then it went on a shelf in the archives, where it remains today.

Who Said Investigative Journalism Was Dead?

The Post does the heavy lifting, getting inside of the Standard Hotel and uncovering the horrible truth about the Standard’s viral campaign:

“We don’t discourage it. In actual fact, we encourage it,” a friendly bellhop told a pair of reporters as they checked in yesterday at The Standard, where randy guests cavort with abandon to the dismay — or delight — of parkgoers below.

After the hotel opened late last year, the bellhop said, naked and semidressed staff members were encouraged to pose in front of the windows. The point, he said, was to create a buzz with the unexpected peep show.

“One of the managers even got naked in a room, and filmed it — they were considering a live feed for the Web site,” the staffer said. “She’s an exhibitionist, too.”

Because of course nothing delights a parkgoer more than catching a middle-aged European tourist jacking off in the window . . . so edgy!

Location Scout: High Line.