Mets-Yankees Bets Are Abundant On Capitol Hill

Call it a kind of crosstown rivalry. With New York buzzing over a possible Mets-Yankees subway series, several congressmen representing Queens and the Bronx are backing their respective home borough teams with friendly bets including that the losers wear the other team’s caps for a day on Capitol Hill.
Queens Congressmen Gary Ackerman and Gregory Meeks are betting Bronx Congressmen Eliot Engel and Jos Serrano that their respective home teams will be the ones to make it to the World Series. Ackerman and Meeks are also wagering a feast from Queens’ premier delicatessen, Ben’s Best Deli in Rego Park, while Engel and Serrano are putting up cheesecakes from the Bronx’s S & S Cheesecake Company in Riverdale and dinner at Jimmy’s Bronx Caf, Fordham Road’s finest restaurant/sports bar serving Puerto Rican food.
"The Amazin’ Mets are going to go all the way," Ackerman and Meeks said. "The excitement is an all time high here in Metsville and we know the team will crush the opposition." Ackerman was on hand with then Mayor Ed Koch in 1986 for the victory at Shea Stadium when the Mets last won the World Series. He also attended the divisional playoff series at Shea Stadium this past weekend.
"Our Queens colleagues have a rich fantasy life, almost as rich as the cheesecakes we are betting," Engel and Serrano said. "But if they think that the Mets are going to get to the World Series and not the Yankees, they are in for a cold dash of reality. We would tell them to wait until next year, but judging from the Yankee lineup, there’s not much hope for them either. We look forward to them joining us at Ben’s Best Deli." Yankee Stadium is located in Serrano’s district.