Locals irked that ISC track still controversial

Locals irked that ISC track still controversial
Larry Richardson is everyday people, a non-union HVAC engineer in New York City. His hands have long been his lifeblood. And somewhere near the tips of those calloused
fingers rests a lifelong dream -- NASCAR racing on Staten Island.
An avid fan of more than a quarter-century, Richardson never fathomed that particular fantasy could become reality. It was a ridiculous notion five years ago. Laughable, even.

Stereotype said NASCAR's good ol' boys didn't belong in greater Manhattan; Taster's Choice in a Starbucks world.

But in 2004 Brian France got serious. He shared Richardson's fantasy, that of Nextel Cup cars roaring around Skyscraper Superspeedway at dusk, the world's most famous skyline twinkling in the background, the family business at the epicenter of the most influential media market on the planet.

Land was purchased in late December 2004, but to date nothing has been constructed. Many still consider it a pipe dream and are reserved to its impossibility.

Not Larry Richardson. Not his wife, Kathy. The Richardsons are ardent advocates for the Staten Island venue as members of SINCH (Staten Island NASCAR Hopefuls).

NASCAR, you see, is very dear to them, has been for quite a time. And last year one of the sport's greatest ambassadors elevated that appreciation.

"Last year, my son had leukemia and Kyle Petty came to visit him. That's NASCAR to us," said Larry Richardson, a 20-year resident of Staten Island. "NASCAR is just the best. The people against the track just don't know what they're going to get."

If you ask Kathy, it's much bigger entertainment or financial gain.

"You don't get that kind of media on Staten Island -- we're the forgotten borough," Kathy said. "This is big-time for us. This could bring New York City back to where it belongs, post 9/11. NASCAR could save New York City, and these people don't see it."

First and most obviously, the critics say, there's no room. A man can hardly pitch a tent, much less erect a structure that makes Madison Square Garden look like Daniel-san's bonsai tree.

And then there's the opposition. Some residents and local leaders are vehemently opposed to the project, and the coinciding potential for additional traffic and noise.

Some detractors made their disdain for the project known last week at International Speedway Corp.'s first public hearing on Staten Island. According to attendees the meeting was tense, and was eventually postponed for fear the crowd could turn riotous.

ISC president Lesa Kennedy was booed ardently during a brief speech.

ISC point man Michael Printup told NASCAR.COM last Friday that the Department of City Planning, which is led by Robert Dobruskin, did a poor job of controlling the meeting. There was no order, Printup admitted, but said reports of a "near riot" were overblown.

Some locals disagree. Lance Powell of South Hempstead submitted the following e-mail to NASCAR.COM in response to Printup's comments:

"For Printup to say the Staten Island public meeting wasn't a 'near riot' is like saying when Michael Waltrip won the Pepsi 400 a few years ago under caution and the fans threw debris on the track was a 'celebration' for his win.

"He has to play 'spin doctor' to make ISC look good for NASCAR, because nobody 'publicly' wants racing here. Land here in the metro NYC area is so limited you can't even get a Wal-Mart Super Center built here -- and the people WANT it!

"The most perfect place to build the track is the Meadowlands. And since the Meadowlands [State of New Jersey] has 'officially' said 'no,' ISC can pretty much 'kiss the baby' as far as a track being built up here.

"The only way ISC is going to get a track built in the NJ/NY metro area will be through some State & Federal Government 'finagling' of the use of the land -- the people be damned."

NASCAR made a run at the Meadowlands before, to no avail. There has long been talk of building a track in the New York market, from Long Island to South Jersey to Connecticut. And influential names, including Donald Trump, popped up throughout. But to date, nothing.

They shouldn't take it personally. NASCAR and ISC aren't the only folks facing roadblocks in the quest to bring big-time auto racing to greater New York City.

A New York Daily News report two weeks ago stated that acting legend and avid sports car racer Paul Newman met with city officials in hopes of bringing an open-wheel event to Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn.

Newman's proposal, the Daily News reported, includes a plan to transform the decaying airfield into a 3.5-mile Grand Prix road course, and includes a weeklong string of charity events leading up to the race.

But according to the report, Floyd Bennett Field is part of the Gateway National Recreation Area, which limits attendance to any one event to 10,000 people. Race organizers seek 65,000 fans.

And of course, traffic congestion is a primary concern.

Printup disagrees that ISC will fail this time.

"We'll still be ready to go racing in 2010," he said last week.

To ISC's credit, they've been hard at work laying the required infrastructure. Printup said Monday that ISC has collaborated with GameDay Management on an elaborate traffic plan, using an integrated software system that ties ticketing to traffic management.

In other words, each ticket purchase for the event will be tied to some form of transportation, Printup said in an e-mail.

GameDay Management has produced the traffic plans for the past six Super Bowls, presidential inaugurations and the past two Olympic Games held in the United States.

ISC has also secured 83 private ferries and the coinciding parking in New York and New Jersey.

And that's only the beginning. Like Printup, the Richardsons attended last Thursday's ISC hearing, but described a slightly different experience.

"There was a lot of obscenity, and as a NASCAR fan I was very disappointed about it," Kathy Richardson said. "It was nuts before we ever got in the auditorium. The SINCH people were very well behaved. We were just so happy to get the process going, then this crap with the union boys broke out."

Councilman Andrew Lanza was reportedly placed in a headlock by a union worker. Again Printup discounted the ferocity of the act. Larry Richardson, however, said it was more aggressive than simply an embrace for the cameras, as Printup suggested.

"I was in the auditorium and witnessed the whole thing," Larry Richardson said. "That wasn't someone putting their arm around you. That was strong arm. Not to rip his head off or anything, but leaning down on his shoulders.

"A NASCAR fan would never do that to anybody. If [the union worker] is for the track, he's in it for the money. That's another problem -- New York unions will milk that job. I know how they work. But when they come in there and destroy the integrity of the real NASCAR fans, those that give, we lose."

Kathy feels the hearing was a setback for track proponents, and gives its opponents ammunition.

"Now they can say, 'So this is how 2,000 people act at a meeting? Imagine how 80,000 would act at the race,'" she said. "It insults our intelligence, and what NASCAR fans really are."

"The councilmen see the union guys as NASCAR fans," Larry said. "That's not NASCAR fans. That's a guy looking for a job. The councilmen are under the impression that they'll have guys like that guy running around damn Staten Island when the race gets here -- 85,000 rednecks running around causing trouble."

"The anti-track folks left cocky, like, 'See, we told you they're nothing but a bunch of rednecks,'" Kathy added. "As a NASCAR fan I felt really s----- about that."

Source: Nascar.com