Staten Island Track No Longer to be Pursued

[LongIslandJam]

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/12-04-2006/0004485090&EDATE=

[Mortgage Guy]

I don't understand why the politicians are so against racing in general in the New York area??? This again would generate plenty of jobs for people and it would be money outside of NY coming into the area. Why don't other people see what we see in racing?

[W. J.]

It's a bummer, but not a surprise. Mike Bloomberg was against it, not too many other politicians expressed interest in it, and it would be better off being built where there is enough land for the RV's and cars generally associated with Cup/Busch races, and that wasn't in the plans for Staten Island.
Wasn't there a parcel of land in Linden, NJ, that someone else wanted to use for a race track??? I remember hearing something about it around the time of ISC's announcement about the S.I. track.

[BOWATCHER]

How convenient for this news to appear right after all the big-wigs roll out of town. Also funny how you never see bad news like that even appear on their own website. Commercial entertainment with an idiot for a comedian at its best!!!!!!

[modified_fan]

Will any politician in New York (save Eddie Densieski or someone comparable) risk any voter capital on behalf of racing?

Anyone pushing for a new racing facility best have a slam dunk case or else the civic groups will make mince meat out of any proposal.

Tis a sad state of affairs.............

[The Bullfather]

Didn't we just have a race last week in Time Sqaure? :lol:

[W. J.]

Will any politician in New York (save Eddie Densieski or someone comparable) risk any voter capital on behalf of racing?

Anyone pushing for a new racing facility best have a slam dunk case or else the civic groups will make mince meat out of any proposal.

Tis a sad state of affairs.............
But the beauty of it is that it costs the politicians nothing! ISC, or whoever, pays to build the track. Surrounding roadway improvements/traffic should be taken care of by the government, as it always is eslewhere. Heck, they can even afford to throw in a tax break for the money a race track brings to the local economy (on this scale).

[Mike Fields]

Anyway you look at it, it's a win-win deal for ISC. If the track was approved, they had an on-going source of income for years to come. Since ISC said they had enough, it's now a real estate investment inside New York City, and they should make a bundle down the road.

Ain't too many dummies down at Daytona, are there?

[DriveitinDeep]

no the dummies are right here. These are the people that only see a negative
and not the positive. It amazes me how short sighted some people are. :mad:

[W. J.]

:) Here's a take from Long Island Press reporter Josh Stewart.

http://www.longislandpress.com/?cp=93&show=article&a_id=10445

Interesting reading on why NASCAR should still consider L.I.

[DriveitinDeep]

good article

[Tracy87BB]

You know, the thing that I find amazing in general around here is how everyone can agree that we need to find a way to stimulate the economy, create jobs and keep people here, yet no one wants to be impacted by anything. Think about a track that would run 1-2 major shows a year...you would obviously need workers to build the facility, and you would create jobs in the way of maintenance, PR, event-day staffing, etc. You would bring people into the area who would inevitably spend money at local hotels, restaurants, stores, etc. However, everyone moans about the traffic and noise it will create. You would think the inconvenience that would be imposed for a few days out of the year would be well worth the positive benefit. In Yaphank, for example, they want to build more housing for the people who can't afford to live here in the first place and who can't find sustainable employment since so many companies are opting to shut their doors or relocate out of the area. Ah, yes, short-sightedness at its finest...

Obviously, my comments are not directed at the majority of people on this board who I'm sure would love to see a facility built anywhere in the area as much as I would...I'm just venting in general.

[DAN D.]

WJ nice find on that article that guy said it in a great way especially when he said, "NASCAR LISTEN TO YOUR FANS".

[W. J.]

No credit to me, Dan. Josh emailed the link to me, I just put it here for all to see. :)

[Parksm]

Long Island....Are you kidding me? Summertime traffic eastbound on LIE? Think Pocono traffic only 50X....NO.....100 times worse! Any other track people arrive from 4 different directions, Long Island, one way in, one way out. NE tour guys cry about coming here, can you imagine the "Cup Convoy" what that would be like? OK, the ferry might get 500 fans over..OK. Maybe run it on a Wednesday nite in November. :cheers:

Staten Island....come on! NYC politics for one thing, unions and construction costs, they have no idea. How about that beautiful Goethels Bridge? One big race weekend would probably finish that freaking thing off for good. Sunday race traffic nightmare...how about a rain-out and a Monday race? Maybe everyone can get some first class rooms on top of the dump! :p

Let's agree on one thing though; The France family are geniuses. They haven't made a false move in 50 years. I really believe that this whole scenario has been well planned, maybe even by Senior, 30 years ago. They control hundreds of acres within NYC as what I am sure will be an investment with Trump-like profit. They got about $100 mil in free publicity, and they broke the ice. They won't have to go looking, the deal will come to them now. Maybe something like Trump and New Jersey at the Meadowlands (within view of the Manhattan skyline) and some public financing. Better transportation already in place and Newark Airport. They know what they're doing!

[W. J.]

Contributed to us by a friend of the forum; originally printed in NY Times.

NY TIMES -- December 5, 2006

Plan for NASCAR Speedway Is Scrapped on Staten Island
By ALAN FEUER
Faced with unyielding opposition from residents who complained that Staten Island's roads were already too congested, a Florida company dropped plans for a 82,000-seat NASCAR speedway on the island, officials said yesterday.

After two years, plans for the speedway — a three-quarter-mile track to have been built on an abandoned oil tank farm near the Goethals Bridge — were scuttled on Thursday by the board of directors of the International Speedway Corporation, said Wes Harris, a company spokesman.

"The reality of it is the board came to the conclusion that the politics was going to be such that we could not be successful," Mr. Harris said.

In May 2004, officials of the company, a NASCAR affiliate based in Daytona Beach, Fla., announced plans to transform 450 acres of unused industrial land on the northwest tip of Staten Island into the New York base for the country's most popular sport.

In order to relieve the inevitable traffic, they had proposed a complex network of ferries, charter buses and park-and-ride lots that would have allowed fans to reach the site during the three race weekends that were expected to be scheduled each year.

They had also promised more than $350 million in construction wages during the two years it would have taken to build the track and said the track would have contributed $200 million to the economy annually, including ticket sales, food and beverage sales and hotel bookings. To help them navigate the shoals of city politics, they hired Guy V. Molinari, a former borough president, as a lobbyist.

But Mr. Harris acknowledged yesterday that the board finally realized that even Mr. Molinari, who did not return a telephone call seeking comment last night, could not help them overcome Staten Island's three-man City Council team, which came out in vociferous and early opposition to the track.

One of the councilmen, James S. Oddo, the Council's minority leader, called the company's move "a monumental victory for the people of Staten Island" in a statement released yesterday. Another, Michael E. McMahon, called the development "a huge victory" and "delightful," saying he had considered the project a "sow's ear" from the start.

"I am glad that the NASCAR people finally understand what I have said all along," Mr. McMahon said in his statement, "that to put a 100,000-seat Nascar track on the west shore of Staten Island is what my mother would call a schnapps idea."

Almost from the start, the plan was met with condemnation from a diverse crowd of skeptics, including Manhattan-based environmentalists and Staten Island homemakers.

In April, the Sierra Club issued a report saying the project would pollute the air, require filling in nearly 15 acres of fragile saltwater wetlands and harm several wildlife species.

A few days later, a public hearing on the track devolved into fisticuffs when more than 1,000 people converged on a meeting hall in Staten Island, including a union carpenter who tussled with Staten Island's third councilman, Andrew J. Lanza.

At the time, Mr. Lanza said he was simply trying to express his views when "a guy put a bear hug on me, threatening me while guys standing in front of him were urging him, 'Punch him in the face.' " After the confrontation, the police shut down the hearing, saying the auditorium's capacity had been exceeded. There was no other hearing on the matter.

"We honestly don't know what happened at that hearing ourselves," said Michael P. Printup, an International Speedway official. There was support for the track early on, according to Mr. Printup, but after the hearing, "something turned."

Mr. Harris said the company, which bought the land for $100 million, would now study other ways to use it, though he refused to say last night what those might be.

He also refused to give up on the idea of bringing NASCAR racing to the nation's largest media market, though he admitted that New York could be a tough town for business.

In Chicago, he said, it took several tries for International Speedway to settle on a site for a track, but eventually the company was successful.

"The challenge with New York everything's magnified 10 times over," he said.

Sewell Chan contributed reporting.

[Jeff T]

It is becoming increasingly obvious that the "NIMBY's" of the New York area are continuing to get their wishes. What I can't understand is the the fact that this race track will be used maybe 10 days during the year (scheduled races & test sessions). The community around the area screams they don't want the noise. Mayor "Doomberg" doesn't want it either. NASCAR has been kissing New York City's butt for years trying to get something going here. They've even brought business to NYC every year with the annual awards banquet. Well, my solution to the situation would be this...If you don't want our racetrack, you won't get our business either. I'll take my banquet and all of the media coverage that your city gains with it (good for the tourist trade, you know), and we'll take it someplace who does want to be in a nice business partnership with NASCAR. There are plenty of places out there who would like our business and the perks that go with it.
Still, I find myself confused...NYC has a government that will tear up a public park (Macombs Dams park) and use eminent domain policies to build new baseball stadium's, but they won't allow a company that seeks and buys property to build their "field of dreams", and get kicked in the groin while doing it. I guess it is safe to say that the "Cidiots" are just stick and ball people. If it's not the Yankees, Mets, Giants or Jets, it just doesn't exist in their world.