Sandbox 1, Sandbox 2, Sandbox 3, Sandbox 4, Sandbox 5, Sandbox 6, Sandbox 7, Sandbox 8
Existing NASCAR Cup Series tracks in close proximity to New York City include Watkins Glen International in upstate New York, Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania, and Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware.[1] Watkins Glen also held Formula One events from 1961 to 1980.[2] New Jersey Motorsports Park, which has held races for the ARCA Racing Series and the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East (a developmental NASCAR series), is located in southern New Jersey.[3][4] The now-defunct Nazareth Speedway, located in eastern Pennsylvania, hosted the IndyCar Firestone Indy 225 event, and NASCAR Busch Series (now Xfinity Series) and Truck Series events until its closure in 2004.[5]
One of the earliest known automobile races in New York City was in 1896, when six cars competed in a race between the city and Westchester County, New York.[6] In 1904, William Kissam Vanderbilt II began hosting the Vanderbilt Cup, held on a 25-mile (40 km) circuit of local dirt roads in Nassau County, Long Island.[7][8][9][10] In September 1908 (add date) Vanderbilt began construction on the Long Island Motor Parkway (also known as the Vanderbilt Parkway), a paved and grade separated limited-access highway between Queens and Nassau County. Vanderbilt planned to utilize a portion of the new parkway to host the Vanderbilt Cup.[7][8][9][10] The course only used a section of the parkway located in Nassau County between Westbury and Hicksville.[11] Following a crash in the 1910 Vanderbilt Cup, the New York State Legislature banned all automobile racing outside of self-contained circuits.[7][8][9][10] The parkway remained open to normal passenger traffic as a toll road until 1938, and was largely replaced by the free Northern State Parkway and Grand Central Parkway.[7][9][10] The Vanderbilt Cup was later held at Roosevelt Raceway (now a horse racing course) in Westbury, Nassau County in 1936 and 1937.[8]
A NASCAR Grand National Series (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) race was held at Linden Airport in Linden, New Jersey in 1954.[12][13] In June 1956 Wall Stadium in Wall Township, New Jersey hosted a race for NASCAR's Convertible Division, with Glen Wood of Wood Brothers Racing participating. In July 1958 the track held a race for the Grand National Series.[14] The Vanderbilt Cup was revived as a Formula Junior event in 1960 at Roosevelt Raceway. In 1965, 1967 and 1968 the Bridgehampton Sports Car Races, held at Bridgehampton Race Circuit located in Suffolk County in eastern Long Island, were billed as the Vanderbilt Cup.[15]
Located at Jewett Avenue and Richmond Terrace in Port Richmond, Staten Island was a Weissglass Stadium or Weissglass Speedway, which would host Saturday-night stock car races. Other events held at the stadium were the annual high school football games between Curtis High School and New Dorp High School, and Negro league baseball barnstorming games which included Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige. It was initially called Sisco Park after the Staten Island Shipbuilding Company which owned the park. It was later named after the local Weissglass Gold Seal Dairy company.[16][17][18][19][20] The track was a 0.5 miles (0.80 km) paved oval course.[16]
The former site is now used by warehouses, located across from the Port Richmond Water Pollution Control Plant.
For many years afterwards, attempts have been made to establish an event for a major auto racing series within the New York metropolitan area, including Formula One, NASCAR, and IndyCar.[24][25][26]
In 1975 and again in 1983, a racing circuit to host a Formula One Grand Prix event was proposed for the New York City area. Potential sites included Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in the borough of Queens, and the Meadowlands Sports Complex in New Jersey.[27][28][29]
The Flushing Meadows plans were opposed by the local community and environmental groups, and the race was postponed and ultimately cancelled by 1985.[30][31][32] The Meadowlands site would host the Meadowlands Grand Prix Champ Car event in 1984.[33] The Meadowlands Grand Prix was run for eight seasons until 1991. The race was said to be unprofitable by the International Management Group (IMG), which managed the event during its last two years.[34][35]
Following the final running of the Meadowlands Grand Prix in July 1991, plans emerged to relocate the race to a new street circuit to be created in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan. The promoters of the race believed placing the race in Manhattan would add "glamour" to the event and attract corporate sponsors, and had been negotiating with the New York City government for the previous 18 months. Issues surrounding the plan included the financial crisis of the time, the potential disruption to the Lower Manhattan area, the continued sponsorship of the race by cigarette brand Marlboro, and ultimately the potential financial gain for the city from the event.[34][36] The New York City Sports Commission estimated at the time that the race could generate $56 million in economic impact, comparable to the NCAA Big East Men's Basketball Tournament held annually at Madison Square Garden. IMG meanwhile estimated the race could attract up to 70,000 spectators.[36]
The temporary circuit would measure 1.3 miles (2.1 km) and be shaped like a "dipper". The course would use streets circumscribing the World Trade Center. The race would be between 180 and 200 miles. A portion of the track would use West Street (West Side Highway) from Liberty Street north to Chambers Street, which would obstruct the entrance to the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel. Potential top speeds of the cars on the "West Street straightaway" could reach 165 miles per hour (266 km/h). Other streets on the circuit included Vesey Street, Church Street, and Liberty Street.[34][36][37] Alternate sites to relocate the race included Washington, D.C., Miami, or Englishtown, New Jersey.[34]
In April 1992, IndyCar Champion Rick Mears surveyed the potential race course during rush hour traffic in a Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1.[38] On January 24, 1992, the race was postponed to 1993 by the CART board of directors. It was initially scheduled for September 20, 1992.[35][39] On March 3, 1992 the city gave final approval for the race, to be titled the "Marlboro Grand Prix of New York", to be held beginning in June 1993. The promoters signed a 10-year agreement with the city Franchise Concession Review Committee, which could be cancelled by either party after every year.[37] As part of the agreement, Philip Morris would use 1,1000 of the 3,700 billboards it planed to rent for anti-smoking advertisements in the months leading up to the race.[37][40] The promoting company, meanwhile, would pay the city $300,000 during the first two years of the deal. It would also cover the costs of municipal services such as police and sanitation, the costs of repaving the streets on the course, and the costs of assembling and disassembling the race circuit. It also initially promised to donate $350,000 during each of the first two years to Manhattan Community Board 1 (representing Battery Park City). The company later planned to start a nonprofit organization to promote city-wide youth safety programs.[37]
In October 1992, however, the race was cancelled by the promotion company. The company cancelled the event due to rising costs, and the inability to find and allocate space for both the team garage area (paddock) and hospitality areas to be used sponsors. The company had considered using various parks in Battery Park City for hospitality space, which was rejected by the Battery Park City Authority. The company instead moved the race to Cleveland as the Grand Prix of Cleveland.[41]
Beginning in 2003, a NASCAR track called Liberty Speedway was planned, with potential sites at the Meadowlands and Linden in New Jersey.[47] In 2004, the International Speedway Corporation (ISC) owned by NASCAR began negotiations with the Bloomberg administration about developing a race track in the borough of Staten Island.[48] At this time, the Meadowlands site fell out of favor due to a lack of space, potential traffic congestion, and political opposition.[48] The Staten Island track, which at that time was planned to be 2.5 miles (4.0 km) in length (the same distance as Daytona International Speedway), would be located in Bloomfield in the West Shore of Staten Island. The site was located near the Goethals Bridge to New Jersey, and north of the former Fresh Kills Landfill. Much of this area was a former industrial park and petroleum storage facility owned by the GATX Corporation.[48] This was the site of the 1973 TETCo gas explosion, which killed 40 workers at the oil facility.[49][50][51][52] In August, the ISC agreed to purchase two parcels of land in Bloomfield.[53] In December 2004 the ISC along with The Related Companies purchased the 675-acre (273 ha) Staten Island site from GATX for $100 million.[54][49][55][56] At the time, ISC spokesman David Talley stated, "We need to be in the New York market. It's important that we're mentioned in the same breath as the Yankees and Mets, Jets, Giants, Knicks and Rangers...We need to be in the media capital and have close proximity to the Fortune 500 companies based in New York".[53] At the time, the speedway was projected to open in either 2008 or 2009, and was anticipated to host "three or four events a year".[53]
In September 2004, Mayor Michael Bloomberg stated his skepticism of the plan, also citing traffic issues.[57][61] In November 2004, the ISC invited 20 city officials and activists including then-Borough President James Molinaro and State Assemblyman Michael Cusick to a NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway (an ISC owned track) in order to encourage support for the Staten Island track.[62]
On April 27, 2006, a public hearing was held concerning the track at the Michael J. Petrides School, attended by 1,000 people. The hearing turned violent when a proponent of the project representing a construction union was said to have put then-City Councilman Andrew Lanza in a headlock, leading police to end the hearing after 45 minutes. Afterwards Lanza commented, "This is the end of the road for NASCAR".[57][58][63] Shortly after the hearing, ISC official Michael P. Printup claimed that the racetrack could generate $200 million annually in economic activity, and create 75 permanent jobs.[63]
After protests from environment groups over pollution and the loss of wetlands in the area, and from local residents over potential traffic congestion and parking issues, in 2006 NASCAR cancelled plans for the track.[54][49][55][63] According to the ISC, the track plans were abandoned due to a lack of political support to re-zone the area for development, and "unacceptable approval requirements" which could lead to high construction and operation costs.[57][64]
In July 2012, New York State Assembly candidate Paul Saryian proposed reviving the plans for the Staten Island track as part of a potential bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics.[65] Around 2012, Formula One again planned to hold the Grand Prix of America on the proposed Port Imperial Street Circuit in New Jersey, but by 2014, the plan had fallen through.[24] In 2015, NASCAR was seriously considering buying stock in order to build a track in New York City.[25]
Main articles: Brooklyn Street Circuit and New York City ePrix |