Got free Bon Jovi tickets? Pray you get in
Fan are expected to start clamoring for spots to this weekend's Bon Jovi concert in Central Park as early as Thursday night in order to ensure that they are not among those sent to the overflow area, police said.
The city is adamant about limiting to 50,000 the number of people allowed on the Great Lawn, the patch of green that has been coddled in recent years to prevent it from falling into a state of disrepair.
However, 60,000 tickets have been handed out because the city was working under the presumption that 15 percent of those lucky enough to get the free ducats won't show up for one reason or another.
Once the crowd exceeds 50,000, those with a ticket will be shuffled to a nearby overflow area, close enough to hear "Living on a Prayer," but without a view of the stage.
City Councilwoman Gale Brewer (D- Manhattan) called it a "bizarre way to hold a concert."
"The great thing about the Great Lawn was that everybody could go," she said. "This notion of having to run around to get tickets takes away from the space."
Tickets to the concert, billed as a prelude to the All-Star game at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday, have been resold for more than $1,000.
Though police expect lines to enter the concert area to begin forming tonight, entry will not be granted until 2 p.m. Saturday, six hours before the start of the concert. Police sources said there will be enough officers at the park to keep order.
MLB and the NYPD, meanwhile, are still hammering out last-minute details, such as how deciding how many entry points to have and whether fans should go through metal detectors, police said.
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