Newsday - Calverton Property

[CIN]

Check out Newsday today - 12/9/05
They are thinking about yet another golf course and senior homes and workforce housing to be put in the Calverton Property. What is truly amazing is it says that this property is zoned recreational! I wonder whose recreation they are talking about.
Cin

This really makes it SO VERY IMPORTANT that we support the Yaphank Site for a Sports and Entertainment Facility that includes Motorsports.

[allhailunc]

look at it this way-we sure as hell don't need another friggen golf course. As for senior citizen housing/care, I'm all for that, but look at it this way too, we sure need "affordable" housing for all the illegal aliens in Farmingville, don't we?

[randomrodder]

Well let's see. You need the golf courses for the Haves and the workforce housing for the Have Nots. Wasn't there a two class system in this country round about 1700? What goes around comes back around.

[Mortgage Guy]

Well, I think it is time for a little reality check....THEY ARE NEVER GOING TO PUT A RACE TRACK ON THAT SITE PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So what should the town do?? Let the biggest piece of real estate in the country just sit there?? I say if it can't be a race track then do something with it and now it looks like they finally are, I say good for them. One other thing, it is all good to support the facility possibly going up in Yaphank (hopefully) but we have a racing facility all ready open, go support that and maybe it will never be sold till we are all long gone from this world. People complain about the prices, if and when Yaphank gets open, how much will they charge for a family of 4??? That I am just curious about; Cin do you have any idea what that may be if it gets approval?

[CIN]

First off - we do support Riverhead Raceway. We are out there every Saturday night for the last 14 years, and every Sunday for enduros for the last 12. We have been to the banquet every year for the last 5, even though there are no points system for the enduros. And I will support Riverhead - for as long as it is there. But, every year for the past 14 all we hear is that Riverhead is closing, Riverhead was sold. What happens when it is? Do we end up like the drag guys, or the road course guys? What then? I have posted this before and I will post this again - Does Daytona hurt New Smyrna? Does Charlotte hurt Concorde, or the other tracks in North Carolina? Does Pocono hurt Mountain Speedway? And where do the oval track people get off not supporting this just because we do have a track. How about all the other kinds of racing out there? Drags, Road Course, ATV, Motorcycle. What would you do if your kid decides that he doesn't want to race oval track but likes "street" racing. Wouldn't you like to have him/her on a legal track instead of some highway? Sorry. I just don't get it.
Second - This is not just racing. I would love to be able to see a concert here with having to go to the Beach. I would love to see a dog show without having to go to the Garden. I would love to just have some kind of entertainment in Suffolk County. And something that includes motorsports. I would love to see a drag race, I've never been to one, but I am not going to travel to Englishtown to do that.
Well, this is all my opinion. I will keep trying my best to support this facility and I will always support Riverhead.
As to how much will it cost to get in, who knows? That would be a question to the Top Gun Guys. They check this site out...ask them. Or you could go on their site and email them and ask. But I do have a question for you; do you think Riverhead is cheap?

[CIN]

Just reread your post - by the way for my family of 5 to get into Riverhead costs $120 dollars that is not including food.

[DOR 58 FIGURE 8]

Hey Cindy, I couldn't agree with you more with everything you said!!!
And we sure don't need any more golf courses, I like what one of the guys who went up to talk at the meeting said, "If we took all the golf courses away, they too, would be putting there balls up and down the street!"

[Rich Johnson]

One of the members of "Long Island citizens 4 sports" asked Steve Levy.... If there were no more golf courses on Long Island and he decided to smack a ball around one our many parks in the area...How would he feel if a stray shot hurt someone walking around in the park!
I hope WE (racin' folks) have places to enjoy our favorite sport for a long time.
I will continue to support Riverhead Raceway as long as I am welcome there.
I hope government keeps an open / realistic mind about "Affordable / workforce housing"... There are probably many boarded up houses that could be used for this purpose.
It seems politicians are using this carrot to get "big business" to spring for something to make them look good.
I like living on the Island...It is expensive to live here and I work very hard to maintain a good lifestyle. If I could not AFFORD to live well...I would move somewhere that I could.

RACINRICH

[The Bullfather]

FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEE!!!!!!


Golf Courses raise property values! Also, what workforce housing has a gold course? Also, who lives in a workforce house that can afford to play golf?

[Mortgage Guy]

Cin, if you read my post you see that I support your cause, here is my problem with all the Yaphank talk. You can have all the meetings you want and all the rallys you want and then they approve the concert center and dragway ONLY, but so many people have jumped on the Yaphank bandwagon that Riverhead had to sell the track because of the lack of crowds. I'm just saying support what we already have, a family of 5 at Yaphank won't be any cheaper than what it would cost at Riverhead, I'm sure. Forever this track has been for sale in the RUMOR mill, but it still stands. I just say enjoy what we have and maybe it will stay. Also, support the new sites such as Yaphank, but keep in the back of your mind that it may never happen and places like Top Gun or anyone trying to do something new, always set their sights high, which is very smart, but what if the town comes back and offers just some of the attractions and the Oval isn't included, do you think they will say we will only build if we get the oval? I doubt it. I wouldn't, so my opinion is I hope they get everything they ask for, but if they don't, and we forget what got us here in Auto Racing, it may be gone too.

[CIN]

Tim, I understand what you are saying. And like I said before, I do and will continue to support Riverhead. At the Banquet this year I told Jim Cromarty that I want him to keep the track open for the next 50 years. My husband races enduros, loves the series, goes all over the Northeast to do it at times (just like everyone else). Do I really think that if Yaphank is opened they will have divisions like enduros, roll overs, demos? Right now...I doubt it...I don't know...I'm not on the inside of all of this and that's fine...I have another life.
But, I support the WHOLE theme of this facility. There are 1,419,000 people in Suffolk county alone. (That was as of the 2000 census.) What do we have in Suffolk besides golf courses? All I was saying about Calverton is they are putting up another one. That only statisfies one segment of the population. The great thing about racing, and this is been said again and again, it is a family/friend sport. How many families pack up the cooler/kids/grandma, etc. and head off for a fun day at a golf course? Usually Dad goes by himself. That's all.
Believe me, I know that Yaphank is far from a done deal. Right after the Longwood public hearing, I attended the Yaphank committee meeting on that following Wednesday. They were open to the public, so I decided to see what they had to say. Well, it wasn't pretty. It started off with Morgo saying we (the 750 racers at Longwood) acted worse than a bunch of teenagers, (he's for only workforce housing by the way), the next lady saying that we shipped people in from out of state to attend the hearing and just because we were the loudest, we probably won't get what we want. Another - the wheel that squeaks the loudest might not get the prize. Another - it's the QUALITY of the responses, not the QUANTITY. (I thought this was a society based on Majority, guess Suffolk doesn't adhere to those rules) And the best from the president of the Yaphank civic association - we are all RACING THUGS. Then having to listen to what they want to put there. So have I been trying to fight even harder now that I know these 11 people are saying these things. Am I fighting harder because these 11 people look like they are the ones that will decide what close to 1.5 million people get to have on property that the Suffolk Taxpayers paid for? You bet. It's a battle, and a very long process. Hell by the time this is a done deal, with all the government bull, I could be retired and living in NC.
Sorry this is so long. And Tim, I am not disagreeing with you. Believe me, I have a vested interest in Riverhead staying open. But I still believe that both can and should exist.
Cin

[Tower Man]

Hey Mortgage Guy, I know Yaphank is still a dream and you, (we) still have loyalty to Riverhead to some degree. Now, we are both somewhat successful businessmen. What helps make our business as good as it is? Competition!!

When you have two or more venues vying for the same audience, it forces one to lower prices and or improve services.

My suggestion to Top Gun would be to charge $10 for an adult, $5 under 16 and under 10...free.

The back gate should cover ALL expenses. Purse, insurance, payroll taxes etc...Making the front gate all gravy. Throw in fries and a pepsi, and boom, large profits.

Competition is healthy. Forces management at both places to become competitor friendly.

[randomrodder]

Back about 25 or so ago there was a group of old midget drivers banding together to turn Parr Meadows into a clay track. I happened to stop there and spoke to two of the guys. They had a midget circling the track but it was too sandy. I mentioned I was in concrete supply and there was a clay mining pit behind our plant in Old Bethpage. We talked a bit about the cost of trucking in the clay. I didn't have any numbers and said I would check it out. In the mean time, the horse owners who kept their horses in the stables there raised such a ruckus that all plans of turning Parr Meadows into a race track were scrubbed.
So tell me now, where are the horses? The stables? The track? The Grandstands? All plowed under by Breslin to build a mall, where's the mall? If they couldn't put up a mall on the old Parr Meadows site, which so happens to be in Yapank, how in the heck will they allow a racing facility?
Just my two cents folks.

[Tower Man]

Good point. Definitely something to think about. I think the real screamers in that deal were the people in the condos at Whispering Pines. They literally were across the street.

[W. J.]

So there's the simple solution. Build work force housing at the old Parr Meadows site, and build TGSE where planned. Then everyone gets what they need, and one more potential mall property is off the radar!!!

It's hard to believe that the naysayers on the Yaphank proposal can't see beyond the racetrack portion of the proposal and realize the other attractions proposed there will benefit so many. Really, all there is now for alternative recreation is Splish Splash, Adventure Land, and a few smaller copies of them, all very seasonal and limited, and over-priced movie theaters. As for indoor and even outdoor perfomance centers, the two proposed for TGSE would be a real asset to Long Island. It could bring musical, comedy, and theater productions closer to people who want to see them, without their having to go to Manhattan or central Nassau County. Geez, with a little tweaking of the plans, the indoor one could be made larger and used for ice skating and basketball (a la Nassau Coliseum). We all need to think outside the box (of just racing) and be creative in any presentation we make to the officials who will decide what happens to this valuable, SUFFOLK COUNTY (not Brookhaven or Yaphank) TAXPAYER OWNED, land.

[Rich Mergl]

Naysayers in Yaphank are a minority. Civic assoc gets maybe 1/10TH of 1 percent of the residents at meetings, and they are mixed as far as point of views.
NASCAR, DIRTBIKES, QUADS, are very popular as is anything to do with HORSE COMPETITIONS.
Just can't get that silent majority to voice an opinion .

[LongIslandJam]

Indeed...

If folks out in Suffolk and Yaphank realized the economic impact of the "tourists" to Suffolk, it would be quite amazing. If Riverhead Raceway and my current job weren't out there, I would never travel out to Suffolk. All the stuff to do for me is out west in NYC. There's really not much out in Suffolk but shopping. Another venue for entertainment is always a plus. And more people like myself out there, means more money for local government and less of a tax burden on the Suffolk Co. residents.

[Tracy87BB]

The problem is, it seems no matter where you want to put something, everyone has a NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) attitude. The majority of people recognize the positives and the potential (and will, in fact, tell you that they agree with the need for economic stimulus and growth), but they want it built somewhere else.

[CIN]

Rich
I agree with you about Yaphank civic, unfortunately, there were 2 of them on an 11 member committee. How representative of Suffolk County was that?
I just hope that we can get enough people to call or write their Legislator's and Levy.
Maybe on different forum's we could have petitions set up that their members could sign and Long Island Citizens 4 Sports can present them to the Legislator's and Levy. Show them even more people that want this. Or should I say - more Voter's and/or potential voters who want this.

JA is there anyway of doing something like that on the JAM?

Cin