NASCAR quietly reshapes plan in a bid to satisfy track
foes
Firm working to revamp traffic tactics, but Island councilmen still
skeptical
Monday, October 23, 2006
By SALLY GOLDENBERG
STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE
Publicly, all is quiet on the NASCAR front these days, but the
company hoping to build a race track on Staten Island insists it is
slowly and diligently working on a new transportation plan it hopes will
be more appealing to local officials and residents concerned about race
day traffic.
Given the low profile the track developer has been keeping and the
crescendo of opposition to the current raceway proposal, though, many
politicos are questioning why the company hasn't given up its New York
City dream yet.
"We're fully committed and still going through the process," said
Michael Printup, track manager for the 80,000-plus-seat raceway and
adjoining retail center being proposed for the Island's West Shore by
motor sports giant International Speedway Corp. "We're working on
everything. We're looking at the traffic, we're looking at the site
plan, we're looking at configuring race times. We've really thrown
everything back in the basket and we shook it all up."
Though Printup initially called 2006 the project's "hump year," ISC
has scrapped its original time table to have the traffic plan completed
this month. Now it intends to submit the draft to the Department of City
Planning in December and hold a public hearing by June. The delay is a
consequence of the company's ongoing vehicle count to ascertain the best
times to stagger traffic leaving the races, Printup said.
He expressed enthusiasm that the revised plan -- which is expected to
reduce the number of cars permitted to park in the track's lot by
relying on more ferries and buses to bring fans to races -- will help
ISC win the support of the Island's three city councilmen. The 51-member
city Council will vote on the raceway, which the borough delegation and
Speaker Christine Quinn have adamantly opposed.
"We hope that we can sit down and talk with them. We hope that they
give us the opportunity to hear us out, and actually see what we have,
the benefit to the community," Printup said.
ISLAND OPPOSITION
But ISC's optimism is pitted against the councilmen's reproach.
"There's nothing I think that they can do or say that's going to
change my opposition," North Shore City Councilman Michael McMahon, a
Democrat, said. "I think that they should just move on to the next
location. That would be my advice."
Republican Councilmen James Oddo and Andrew Lanza were equally
skeptical about ISC's forward march.
Oddo laughed when he heard the company hopes to meet with him in the
future. "I'm not going to answer the question 'Will I meet with them?'
because I think that's silliness," he said. "They have no credibility at
this point."
Lanza, a state Senate candidate, said, ISC has "had a lot of
opportunity to demonstrate to the people of Staten Island why NASCAR
would not irreparably harm Staten Island and ... they haven't."
The South Shore councilman said he would evaluate a new traffic plan,
but doubts he would ever support the two-year-old proposal to build a
track here and host three annual races.
The councilmen voiced unequivocal opposition after the plan's first
public hearing in April grew so raucous police shut it down within an
hour. And Oddo and Lanza have been at odds with ISC's lobbyist and
former Borough President Guy Molinari.
Although the Council will determine the track's chance, some
politicians think ISC is banking on support from other elected
officials, and is intentionally dragging out the approval process until
after Election Day -- theories the company denies.
"It seems that they are looking for a crack or an open window to see
whether or not they can get one elected official, whether state or city,
in support," Lanza said. "They haven't, it seems to me, been able to do
that. And the fault is with the project."
Printup called it "coincidental timing" and said the elections "don't
pay a big role ... they're all state elections."
RACEWAY POLITICS
ISC could gain traction in the Council if Lanza wins the Senate seat
this year and a special election is held to replace him. Still, the
three councilmen have said they doubt a political novice would vouch for
such a contentious project, and Lanza is unlikely to endorse a successor
who favors the track.
Speculation also has swirled around ISC anticipating support from
leading gubernatorial candidate Eliot Spitzer, an unabashed NASCAR fan.
A spokeswoman for his campaign said Spitzer, a Democrat, considers it
a local issue and has not taken a stance. "He's open to supporting it,
though I think there are some outstanding questions he'd want to see
answered first," spokeswoman Christine Anderson said. "He'd want to make
sure that the economic impact is a real one."
Printup repeated ISC's mantra that "it's a city process," but added,
"any political help is always a good thing."
"We haven't engaged to date and we haven't strategized to date on
going outside the City Council, in terms of the Staten Island City
Council [members]," Printup said. "It's a city process."
But even beyond the Council, the political landscape looks barren for
ISC.
Borough President James Molinaro told the Advance at the Columbus
Parade, "As far as I'm concerned, it's dead. I don't know why they're
still here." He said ISC cannot move forward without Council support.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has favored big-ticket sports projects
in the past, continues to stay mum on this issue.
McMahon mused that ISC may postpone submitting a formal application
until term limits push the borough's council members out of office in
2009 -- another theory ISC denies.
"I would caution them that that would probably be a false hope
anyway," he said. "I don't think that anybody that can get elected on
Staten Island is going to be in favor of NASCAR."
Sally Goldenberg is a news reporter for the Advance. She may be
reached at goldenberg@siadvance.com.
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