Mapping a day in the life of Seinfield’s George Costanza with the Yankees
NEW YORK — In the esteemed role of the assistant to the traveling secretary for the New York Yankees over the span of two-plus seasons on the hit television show “Seinfeld,” George Costanza had plenty of times where the culture of New York’s boroughs and the city’s (dare we say it) most popular baseball team came together for some memorable moments.
As the Yankees prepare to open a three-game series at Yankee Stadium against the Baltimore Orioles (no Elaine, you can’t wear that Orioles hat in the owner’ box), it’s a great time to go through what a day in the life of our favorite fictional New York Yankees employee just might have looked like.
Here’s how you can follow what might have been a typical day in the life of George Costanza from “Seinfeld” when he worked for the New York Yankees
For this “typical day,” we’re going to flash back to the episode where George gets Yankees owner George Steinbrenner hooked on calzones and has to deliver one to him every day for lunch.
Where should we start this soon-to-be-epic day? Well, how about in the place where it seems that so many episodes of “Seinfeld” centered? It’s a famous restaurant exterior … with an interior that looks nothing like what was seen on television.
Breakfast
There’s little doubt that George probably would have started his day inside Monk’s Cafe, where the Seinfeld gang usually met to discuss life and why the show was really about … nothing.
While the windows on the television show all say Monk’s Cafe, the restaurant exterior is actually Tom’s Restaurant, which sits at 2880 Broadway (the corner of W. 112th and Broadway). It’s a few blocks from the north end of Central Park.
How to get there: You can always take a taxi, or you can hop on the 1 line and get off at the Cathedral Parkway 110 Street exit. From there, it’s a short walk to Tom’s so you can get a picture of the iconic exterior. The day that I visited, there were plenty of people standing on the corner or in the median to get a picture of the neighborhood restaurant that is now forever a part of Americana.
You rarely could make out the “Tom’s” when the exterior was shown during Seinfeld. Monk’s Cafe on the show but Tom’s Restaurant in real life. pic.twitter.com/G9BSKPxffD
— Kevin Henry (@kgh23) April 25, 2022
Be warned if you go: The interior looks completely different than what was seen on television.
To Yankee Stadium
For this “typical day” that will eventually end up with yet another fetching of a calzone, George would have had to have gone from Monk’s/Tom’s to Yankee Stadium to start his day.
We know from another episode (where Steinbrenner and other members of the Yankees organization though George had died through a series of mishaps, watch the clip below) that George had a parking spot at Yankees Stadium. Now remember, this was the former Yankees Stadium (not the current one that opened in 2009) so George’s parking spot is no more (for a number of reasons, including that he no longer works for the Yankees either).
This clip, by the way, delivers one of the greatest lines of “Seinfeld” interactions with the Yankees when George’s dad, Frank, yells at Steinbrenner for trading Jay Buhner to Seattle.
How to get there: So, yes, George drove to Yankees Stadium. You can certainly do that as well and park in a garage near the stadium (the Ruppert Plaza Garage, located on E. 161st St. and the Macombs Dam Bridge ramp, across the street from Gate 4, is $45 at the time of this writing). You can also take the subway to the game (the Yankee Stadium subway stop is located on E. 161st Street and River Avenue. The No. 4 train (East side) and the D train (West side) make stops at 161st Street/Yankee Stadium.
Of course, George couldn’t just stay at Yankee Stadium and do his work on this day. He had to go get a calzone for Steinbrenner. That’s where our tale gets interesting and blurred between television and real life.
To get the calzone
In the famous “Seinfeld” episode where George has to get the calzone every day for Steinbrenner, the exterior of the restaurant shown where he picks up the calzone is … nowhere near Yankee Stadium. In fact, it’s a 34-minute subway ride (one train, however, as Costanza could have ridden the B line all the way from Yankee Stadium into Greenwich Village, the real location of the calzone restaurant).
Now, if George made the trek all the way to Joe’s Pizza every day for his boss, well, good for him. And yes, Paisano’s (as it is called in the television episode) is really Joe’s, a New York pizza landmark. It has since been featured in “Spider-Man 2” where Tobey Maguire is fired from his pizza delivery job.
As with Monk’s Cafe and Tom’s Restaurant, the exterior used for the calzone scene doesn’t tell the whole story.
From the calzone episode of “Seinfeld,” this was the storefront for Paisano’s where George got the calzones for “Big Stein” pic.twitter.com/grhW4NLZ7w
— Kevin Henry (@kgh23) April 25, 2022
Another strange twist in the search for where Costanza got the calzone is … well … Joe’s doesn’t serve calzones.
How to get there: To get to Joe’s, you can take the B train to the W. 4th St./Washington Square exit and walk to 7 Carmine Street (about a 5-minute walk).
Next. Why Judge deserves the big contract extension in New York. dark
If you still want a calzone but you want to stay a little closer to Yankee Stadium, check out PG Pizza, which is about a half-mile walk away. Steinbrenner probably would have loved it as well.