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Where to sit when in New York's City Center?


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I asked this question once before in passing but wondered if anyone else might have any pointers. The one time:eek: I attended my legs almost had to be surgically removed due to the extreme lack of leg room. I believe it may have been Morris Neighbor who suggested 'the row of seats behind the wide cross-aisle in what used to be called the balcony; it now separates the "Grand Tier" from the "Mezzanine."'

Since I've become a great ABT fan, and since Alexandra recently posted the upcoming performances by SFB at City Center, I realize I am going to have to start frequenting the place.

Now, I assume the section that was suggested earlier costs about as much as the orchestra seats do... Do orchestra seats give one enough leg room, as well? And are there any cheap seats that aren't made for shorter people?;)

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The old Mecca Temple was a Shriners' hangout, and designed for "tent" shows that the lodge would put on, or even hire for fundraisers - the old orchestra used to be fairly spacious, as the seats were set for somewhat paunchy adult men. Only problem was that the floor was so low, that seeing anybody below the ankles was a problem. When they raised the floor, they changed the seat spacing, so as to make more prime seating available.

The upstairs was reserved to the families, ladies and children, so the front of the balcony was reserved for the wives of the Grand Potentate, and the Past Perfect Participle and such worthies, and the general membership families took up the rest of the balcony. They were usually younger, and female, so the seat spacing could be made tighter to reflect the average 4" height differential between men and women. The The second balcony was for the hoi-polloi who didn't actually belong to the Mecca Temple, and children.

The cross aisle is better than most places in that house, or try to get an aisle seat up there. The orchestra seats have been reset again, but not to their original spaciousness.

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