When You Put It That Way, It’s Nearly Impossible Not To Get Excited For Opening Day!

Amid the fan-friendly touches, new and improved sightlines and new excellent concessions, sad truths remain:

Sitting in their seats, few fans will see the chop shops in Willets Point, the cars roaring past on the Van Wyck Expressway, the subway yards to the south or the U-Haul sign. They will still get a crystal-clear view of the planes on their final approach to La Guardia Airport. Some things never change.

Location Scout: Citi Field.

There Are Glass Domes And There Are Glass Domes

Poor Helen Marshall. If there is a difference between a $500 million glass dome and a $20 million glass dome, the Post can’t discern it:

With the mayor announcing a doomsday budget scenario, you’d think the whole city would come together to make every single penny count.

Not Borough President Helen Marshall, who pushed ahead yesterday with a questionable $20 million glass atrium at the rear of Queens Borough Hall.

On the same day Mayor Bloomberg said the city might cut 23,000 jobs and many city services, a request for competitive bids on the extension project was made public.

The plan calls for a high-ceilinged enclosure to be constructed in the nearly 70-year-old building’s rear courtyard. The area would be used for public meetings, cultural events and performances. It will be paid for with taxpayer money budgeted to Marshall’s office.

“It is a $20 million project funded from the borough president’s discretionary capital fund. It is to provide much-needed space for meetings and community programs,” said Marshall’s spokesman, Dan Andrews.

From The (Borough) Halls Of Power, A Much-Needed Call For Calm

Oh, well if Helen Marshall says so, then we should be just fine. I wake up this morning, see a bright, brand new day, and suddenly my confidence is restored. One short 90-minute speech later, a strange feeling in me bubbles to the surface — an overriding conviction that we — every single one of us — must do all we can to ensure that this elected official gets her richly deserved third term in office:

By turns a campaigner, cheerleader and comforter, Queens Borough President Helen Marshall tried Tuesday to soothe fears of a crippling, close-to-home financial crisis in her annual State of the Borough address.

“In this ailing economy, we can create jobs, we can build housing and we can boost businesses,” Marshall told a crowd of 800 at Queens College’s Colden Auditorium. “Naysayers beware, we will move forward.”

. . .

[S]he sprinkled her wide-ranging, 90-minute speech with optimistic outlooks on schools and libraries she funded — and asked constituents to reelect her to a third term in November so she can “get the job done.”

What Are City Republicans Good For?

. . . quipping about taxpayer bailouts:

In 2006, Citigroup signed a 20-year, $400 million contract to name the Mets’ new stadium in Queens Citi Field. As recently as last week, the troubled financial-services conglomerate said it had no intention of backing out of the deal for the new stadium — the replacement for Shea Stadium, which is being demolished.

Well now, with Citigroup getting a second multi-billion-dollar rescue from the federal government, two City Council members would like to see Uncle Sam get some credit.

The two councilman, Vincent M. Ignizio and James S. Oddo, both of Staten Island, called on Tuesday for the stadium to be renamed Citi/Taxpayer Field. The two men will soon be the only Republicans on the 51-member Council; the only other Republican, Anthony Como of Queens, was recently defeated in a special election.

“Perhaps a name change is in order, since it will be the taxpayers of the country who will foot the bill for not only part of stadium, but for the company itself,” Mr. Ignizio said. “The taxpayers are spending billions for this company to maintain its operations and deserve the recognition for their largess.”

Mr. Oddo quipped: “Not naming the field after Jackie Robinson in the first place: mindless. Tom Seaver stepping onto the new mound for the first time: timeless. Actually acknowledging the contributions of the hardworking taxpayer: priceless.”

Cute.

Location Scout: Citi Field.

Aha, That’s What Borough Presidents Do!

Advocate for the destruction of bits and pieces of the city’s architectural history:

Queens Borough President Helen Marshall urged destruction of the New York State Pavilion during an interview this week with the Daily News, pre-empting a city study on whether the structure can be saved.

“It should be demolished,” Marshall said of the pavilion, designed by famed architect Philip Johnson. “We have great artists. He’s not the only artist in the world.”

Though the 1964 World’s Fair exhibit has decayed much over the decades, the unique rotunda with three towers remains integral to the city’s proposed transformation of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.

Location Scout: New York State Pavilion.