National Cycling Association unveils plan for velodrome and BMX park in Kingsbridge Armory
National Cycling Association unveils plan for
velodrome and BMX park in Kingsbridge Armory
Would rent landmark site for youth programs and six-day bicycle races
BY DANIEL BEEKMAN
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, November 3 2011, 6:31 PM
A rendering of plans for a velodrome in the Kingsbridge Armory.
Skate park patrons get award for helping fight to keep firehouse open.
After over a year of Civic meetings, picnics, political events, rallies, and Community board meetings.
The South Beach Civic Association rewarded Steve Quigley, Charlie Quigley, Chris Nazzaro, Alex Avilla, Vin Roselli and myself with a plaque for helping to fight the Mayor to keep the Firehouse Engine Co. 161 Ladder 81 open 24/7 on McClean Ave on Staten Island NY.
I asked some of them if it was worth it. All the meeting and events And they said it all was.
Now all they want a skate park.
And I will do all I can to get us one.
Ed
"Why did you allow the commissioner to destroy our skate park?"
Here is a video of me asking NYC Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe a question about the Benjamin Soto skate park on August 9th, 2011 at the Museum of New York City. More about the meeting here.
I guess he didn’t see this video.
Councilman Oddo Threatens To Cut Funds To Parks Department from Group Home Bikes on Vimeo.
Thanks Johanna at parkslope.patch.com
Bikers’ Dream: A Bronx Velodrome and Indoor Skate Park.
Bikers’ Dream: A Bronx Velodrome
Above left, the Kingsbridge Armory briefly revived six-day bicycle racing in New York in 1948. Jack Simes, far left, and Mike Green want to restore the long-vacant and much-fought-over armory, right, for cycling events.
By J. DAVID GOODMAN
DWARFED by the soaring expanse of the long-vacant Kingsbridge Armory, a small group of bike advocates and Bronx residents strolled through the main hall recently and imagined a mecca of bicycling.
Picture it: Over here, young BMX riders from the neighborhood perform tricks, spinning their bike frames and leaping over obstacles. Over there, racers warm up and cool down, as fans drink Belgian beer at an indoor bar and live bands play.
And in the center, under the lights, elite athletes from around the world zip around a smooth plywood track during six days of competition — the sort of marathon racing that once drew tens of thousands of spectators to cycling tracks, or velodromes, across New York, from Coney Island to Madison Square Garden.
“Six-day races are a blend of Broadway show, going out to dinner and high-end sporting event,” said Jack Simes, a Pennsylvania bike track developer and elite rider who led the group through this vision for the Bronx armory, New York’s largest and among the most fought-over. “We want to bring them back to New York.”
Mr. Simes and Michael Green, the former president of a local bike racing club, have founded the National Cycling Association to help create a cycling center and 820-foot track in the armory. As a first step, they plan to seek city approval to rent the fortress for a demonstration race sometime in the next year as a “proof of concept,” Mr. Simes said.
Theirs is just one of several proposals for the 285,000-square-foot space. But the dream of recapturing the glory days of the velodrome has been surprisingly common, if largely quixotic.
Jason Gallacher, a bike shop owner in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, recently had the dream, picturing bike aficionados flocking to an indoor track in Greenpoint. “I firmly believe that there needs to be a beautiful facility in this city,” he said. “We created track racing.” But his proposal has been shot down by residents, who would prefer to see a public park instead.
Josh Rechnitz and Matthew Heitman formed a nonprofit group, New York Velodrome, in 2009 to push for a track in Manhattan. The effort has faltered, and the group appears to have ceased trying.
The Kingsbridge Armory was the site of an indoor racing revival in 1948, when six-day races returned to the city, but only briefly. And the most promising plan would have built a track in the Bronx as part of the city’s bid to host the 2012 Olympics. That, too, failed.
Still, as the Bloomberg administration has beckoned bikers to the streets in recent years, many have looked back at the history of New York cycling and the heyday of urban track racing, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Then, Madison Square Garden attracted hordes of race fans to grueling competitions that, long before Nascar, featured hair-raising speed and spectacular crashes. Newspapers condemned the brutality of races in which racers pedaled nonstop for days. “The knowledge that a man can propel himself 1,769 miles in 110 ½ hours is purchased too dearly when it costs the reason and the physical well-being of the person who imparts it,” The New York Times said in an editorial in 1897.
City lawmakers responded by limiting the time a racer could ride in one stretch. But the organizers adapted, adding a second rider to relieve the first periodically in team events that came to be known as Madisons.
Modern six-day races, which are held mostly in Europe, limit the amount of cycling per day. The demonstration race that Mr. Simes and Mr. Green want to bring to the Kingsbridge Armory would feature six nights of events on a temporary track, with tickets sold for all or part of the competition.
From there, the two hope to attract strong corporate sponsors and show the city the viability of a permanent cycling center in the Bronx.
But, for the moment, the idea faces significant challenges, starting with financing. The permanent track alone would cost a few million dollars, by Mr. Simes’s estimate.
The armory has already been the battleground for a rancorous public fight over a planned mall that pitted residents against developers, and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg against the City Council.
After the mall project was scrapped in 2009, many competing proposals emerged, including a film studio, an educational complex and a home for sustainable food production. “Whatever it is, it has to add to the community,” said Kwasi Akyeampong, a community representative from the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance, who tagged along with the cyclists’ tour last month.
As they gazed around the drill floor, another group — dressed in business suits and talking about a hockey rink — moved quickly past. “That’s the competition,” Mr. Simes said. “But I like a horse race.”
Should the cyclists lose that race, there is still one place for bicycle track riding in New York: the Kissena Velodrome in Queens. It may not have a roof, a bar or even a subway stop close by, but racers still compete there regularly on its banked and sun-baked circuit of asphalt, as they have since 1962.
Whole Story Here.
New Soto Skate Park: Where's the challenge? say skateboarders and bikers
Soto Skate Park’s new look with no ramps. “This is a slap in the face,” said Stephen Quigley, 17, of Grant City, a constant presence at the skate park for the past four years. “It’s like taking tackle out of football.” (Staten Island Advance/Virginia N. Sherry)STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – MIDLAND BEACH – Young skateboard and BMX enthusiasts who previously flocked to Benjamin Soto Skate Park from all over Staten Island expressed astonishment and disappointment last week about what they see as the dumbed-down version of the borough’s only skate park. The city’s Parks Department reopened the site on June 16.
“This is terrible – there are no ramps – this place is not a skate park any more,” said Woodrow resident Matt Duffy, 14, who attends Tottenville High School and gets from his South Shore home to the Midland Beach facility via the Staten Island Railway (SIR).
Great Kills resident Chris Nazzaro, 17, a recent graduate of Monsignor Farrell High School who will enter the College of Staten Island (CSI) as a freshman, agreed. “I’ll grind the rails for a little, and then find somewhere else to go,” he said.
“The old park was fine – we had a good and decent park – all it needed was repairs,” said Joshua Ocasio, a 20-year-old engineering major at CSI who lives in Prince’s Bay. “They just tore down everything. It should not have been bulldozed. This is crap.”
The Parks Department told the Advance on Monday that “six steel and concrete benches and multiple steel rails planned for the site are now installed,” and “a low concrete platform and ramp will be installed this summer.”
In a statement, the agency explained that “ramps over three feet require safety equipment and helmets and staff to monitor,” adding that “most of the new skate parks being built have primarily ‘street elements.’
“We hope to add concrete ramps, bowls and other elements when we have funding, but we will not be adding ramps over three feet as has been discussed with the community and elected officials on previous occasions,” the agency said.
“This is a slap in the face,” said Stephen Quigley, 17, of Grant City, a constant presence at the skate park for the past four years. “It’s like taking tackle out of football.”
“It’s a disgrace that it’s come down to this, and there’s only this to show,” said a disgusted Tim Cox, 15, of Bulls Head, a BMX enthusiast who attends McKee High School and sometimes rides his bike from the West Shore to Midland Beach when he cannot catch a car ride.
‘NO VARIETY’
From left to right, skateboarders Rich Rojas of Rosebank, 18; Joshua Ocasio of Prince’s Bay, 20; and Akeim Whylie, 16, also of Rosebank. “They should add quarter-pipes, banks, and ramps,” said Rojas, who used Soto Skate Park for four years before it was shut down and demolished.Skateboarders voiced similar complaints last week, all of them upset about the lack of ramps that allowed them to ride, “get air,” and establish momentum for other tricks. “You can’t fly off any of this stuff – there’s no variety,” one of them said.
“I can’t skate transition and do ‘tranny’ tricks. It’s all rails and street stuff,” another complained.
“It’s the worst thing ever. They should take it back, and put in some real edges,” said Akeim Whylie, 16, who lives in Rosebank and attends Ft. Hamilton High School in Brooklyn. “This is like junkyard welding,” he commented, pointing to the low metal rails. “I know because my dad is a welder. I want to unbolt this stuff, and bring it home for my dad to make better.”
His friend Rich Rojas, 18 – a McKee High School student, also from Rosebank – said that the newly reopened park “is not what I was expecting. I’m a little grateful, but they should add quarter-pipes, banks, and ramps.
“They didn’t consult with us when they made this. There should be fewer rails,” added Rojas, a user of the park for the last four years.
The whole point of skate parks is the availability of infrastructure not easily – and legally – found on the streets, the young riders explained.
“Kids go pro at 14 years old,” said Quigley of Grant City. “So for those of us trying to go pro, this is wasted time that we can’t get back. This was a place to learn – the only place on Staten Island.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
“We recognize that the current ‘street elements’ may not accommodate all styles of riding, and we are working with the skateboard and BMX community to identify and advocate for either future enhancements to Ben Soto, or the complete rebuild of a new skate park at the same location,” the Parks Department said in its statement. The agency noted, however, that “there is no budget at this time” to reconstruct Soto Skate Park.
BMX bikers at Soto Skate Park — “This is a slap in the face,” said one.“We are also investigating additional skate park opportunities in Staten Island parks,” the agency added. “We are now considering the possibility of adaptively-reusing the old Safari Amusement Park site (at Arthur Kill Road and Richmond Avenue, owned by the Parks Department) as a skate park,” the agency stated, noting that “a Request for Proposal for the operation of the adjacent building facility as a Parks Concession was released on April 20, and the deadline was June 23.
Read the whole story here
http://www.silive.com/eastshore/index.ssf/2011/06/new_soto_skate_park_no_challen.html
Ryan Humphrey Art opening Video.
Ryan Humphrey opening BMX performance from art and culture center on Vimeo.
Letter to Adrian Benepe About Ben Soto skate park.
Below is a letter to the Staten Island Advance that I wrote.
In reply to Adrian Benepe’s June 22 letter to the Advance [“Parks Department projects on Island moving forward”]:
I don’t mean to blatantly offend you, but you don’t live on Staten Island, and judging from your actions your eyes and ears must be closed.
First off, you appointed a Parks commissioner who took a $650,000 skate park and put it in the Dumpsters when the skate park could have been repaired for $70,000. Then she issued a press release saying that the Parks is building a “green” skate park. I don’t see what is green about throwing a skate park in the Dumpsters only to build a new one that no one uses now.
On the Cedar Grove opening: Yes, the beach was open and clean, but it’s only clean because the people of Ceder Groove kept it clean for years (not the Parks Department). Give credit where credit is due.
I’m also curious to know the truth about what’s going on with the houses in Cedar Grove. Are there really state intervention issues, or is the movie company still not done with their film yet? Can a public official be honest or do they always have to lie?
Finally, on the mayor’s $70 million indoor track: One of a kind, right?
I have been going to community board meetings, and civic meetings in South Beach and Midland Beach, and I haven’t heard any community requests saying they want the track enlarged. What I have heard is people saying they don’t want the track, and that they want their firehouses to stay open and their schools’ funding to not get cut.
Another important issue that is constantly raised — and one that I think should be put first before sports complexes — is hospital care. We all feel that another hospital is needed on Staten Island.
We want what we have been fighting to protect, not more things that the Parks Department and the city can’t afford. If the Parks Department can’t find money to fix or staff a skate park, how are you going to find money to staff this track? Cut the track and keep the firehouses open, and give us our skate park back.
Here is the link to the letter.
Here is his letter.
By ADRIAN BENEPE
COMMISSIONER NEW YORK CITY
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS & RECREATION
Re: “Parks Disappoints Again,” Advance editorial, Sunday, June 11, 2011:
A recent Advance editorial (“Parks Disappoints Again,” Sunday, June 11th) suggested that Staten Island parks and parks construction projects have suffered from lack of attention.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Despite dire predictions from some, Cedar Grove beach opened on schedule as promised and is now available for all Staten Islanders to enjoy all summer long. It has municipal lifeguards, beautiful groomed sand, parking, and public toilets.
State intervention temporarily prevents removal of the most derelict bungalows that have no possible public use, but we are doing the due diligence that will allow us to save and re-use those that are sturdy or have architectural merit.
Cedar Grove Beach adjoins New Dorp, which is not a swimming beach and therefore not groomed to be one.
At Ocean Breeze, a $70-million sports facility being built entirely with city capital allocations as part of PlaNYC — the mayor’s long-term plan to make the five boroughs greener and greater — is moving forward with careful oversight and will be a jewel in the crown of sports facilities on Staten Island and for New York for generations to come.
Despite the City’s difficult fiscal situation, the budget for this project was not cut when others were. In response to community requests, the building was enlarged by 35,000 square feet. Seating was increased and lanes were added and widened, with hydraulically banked curves.
Later phases, not yet budgeted, will add in sports fields and other amenities in exchange for these upgrades to the building and main track.
All plans at all stages were made public. Staten Islanders were included at community board meetings in 2009; at presentations to Staten Island elected officials and members of SITRAC in 2010, and at the 2010 groundbreaking ceremony hosted by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, where renderings of the plan stood on easels for all to see.
Parks is working diligently with the city’s Department of Design & Construction at Ocean Breeze, where right now a second engineering firm is evaluating test results and making recommendations as we move forward.
The city will get the project completed as quickly as possible, while making sure the highest standards of construction are adhered to.
And we welcome oversight and inclusion by Staten Islanders and all. With the financial commitment of the mayor and Staten Island’s elected officials, from the borough president to local representatives, we continue to restore existing parks and build new ones.
The hard-working men and women of the Staten Island division of the Parks Department have the Island’s parks once again leading the five boroughs for overall condition and cleanliness.
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