SECTION: SPORTS; Page A43

LENGTH: 495 words

HEADLINE: SUBWAY SERIES / STADIUM TAPS OUT BEER IN BLEACHERS / FANS CRITICIZE, PRAISE ALCOHOL BAN

BYLINE: By Tim Logan. STAFF WRITER 


BODY:
Bar and beer advertisements line River Avenue opposite the gates to Yankee Stadium, encouraging fans to drink to their heart's content. But above the gate to the home of New York's "bleacher creatures," hang signs declaring "Notice: Bleachers are now alcohol-free." This new policy, introduced May 26, received mixed reviews from fans entering the stadium's cheap seats Friday night. Some said the policy, which applies only in the bleacher section, discriminates against people who can't pay to sit anywhere else.

"Some of the people are people who can't afford the good seats, the $ 50, $ 60 seats, but they still want to have a beer when they get to the game," said John Harms of Howell, N.J.

Bleacher seats cost $ 8 apiece. Ticket prices in the rest of the stadium range from $ 15 to $ 55, and beer is on sale at concession stands in the concourses and sold by vendors in the stands.

Some fans, however, said the new policy will help make the bleachers a safer environment for children.

"I would imagine the crowd would be a little more restrained," Harry Kaufman of Chappaqua said after he dropped off his daughter and three of her friends before the game. He said the new policy reassured him.

Family concerns prompted the change, according to Yankees officials.

"The bleachers have become a popular seating choice by many of our fans, including families," said Lenn Trost, the club's chief operating officer. "It is the Yankees' responsibility to take every reasonable step to maintain a fan-friendly environment throughout the Stadium, and we feel this is a positive and proactive decision."

The bleachers have long been a rowdy spot, the origin of heckles at opposing players and any of their fans who happen to be sitting nearby. They have also been a security problem in the past. Vendors stopped selling beer in the seats last season, leaving concession stands as the only place to purchase alcohol. But now that option has been eliminated, too.

Several fans said they were more comfortable bringing their children to the game with the new policy in place.

"With my 9-year-old son, I like it," Denis Catania of Queens said. " There's definitely less trouble in there." But the change leaves many disappointed nonetheless.

A pair of British tourists were surprised to see there would be no beer in the bleachers. Alcohol is not served at soccer matches in England, which have been marred by violent fans in the past, but Andrew Butchard was not expecting the same in New York.

"I was kind of hoping to come here and have a beer and watch the match, actually," he said.

Others said the traditionally rowdy bleachers would lose some of their character as the ban continues.

"It will probably take a lot of energy out of the bleachers," said Chris Sulger of Huntington. "And it probably wouldn't be the true bleachers without it."







LOAD-DATE: June 10, 2000