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Tilted Cat Head
Administrator
Location: Manhattan, NY
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Forget Mario Kart, REAL Go Karts!!!!!
Quote:
View: Kart Track Revives a Run-Down Area
Source: NYTimes
posted with the TFP thread generator
Kart Track Revives a Run-Down Area
April 13, 2008
Redevelopment
Kart Track Revives a Run-Down Area
By IRENA CHOI STERN
MOUNT KISCO
AFTER learning he had prostate cancer last year, Earl Thomas was told by his doctors that one of the keys to healing was to find pleasure in life and do things that are fun. So when he heard that an indoor kart-racing center was opening here Feb. 12 , he drove up from City Island in the Bronx to check it out.
And he keeps coming back.
“It’s my fourth time,” Mr. Thomas, 43, a writer, said one March afternoon. “I’m going to come back tomorrow, too.”
Mike Norris of Katonah was also back that day for his fourth visit, this time with two colleagues from MBIA, the Armonk-based bond insurance company. And on a recent Friday after school, Nick Bruno and Ben Mezic, both 17, had returned with four Somers High School classmates.
The track, called Grand Prix New York, is the centerpiece of the redevelopment, along with a conference center, of a former distribution center for Grand Union grocery stores, now owned by Diamond Properties. Drivers can get karts with 6.5-horsepower engines up to 40 miles an hour on two quarter-mile tracks, with up to 15 people racing at a time.
Since Grand Prix New York opened for corporate events in January and to the public in February, nearly 5,100 people have visited it. The hope is to build attendance to 120 drivers during the peak evening hours, from the current 30 to 40, said Michael Dardano, a track spokesman.
Neighboring businesses couldn’t be happier, especially those along North Bedford Road that face Grand Prix New York.
“They’ve definitely revamped the area and made it 1,000 percent better than it was — empty, dilapidated and overgrown with weeds growing through the blacktop,” said Peter Simone, co-owner of Simone Brothers Auto Body, across the street. “It was not a pretty sight.”
The repaved roads and new traffic light at a busy nearby intersection will be good for business, said John Carlino of Star Guitars and Frank Enea of Satellite Music Studios, also on North Bedford Road.
“A few months ago, this street was pretty much a street nobody would venture down,” Mr. Enea said. Grand Prix “has been driving traffic through this street, and people say, ‘I’ve seen your sign.’ ”
Janet Deane, executive director of the local Chamber of Commerce, said the redevelopment of the building, which was vacant for about a decade, had “created a lot of business opportunities.”
Mayor J. Michael Cindrich agreed. “We collaborated and came up with a good business plan for both the village and him,” he said, referring to James A. Diamond, whose company owns the Grand Prix building.
The building also includes a sports photography company and an electronics distributor. The remaining space will soon house the Wine Enthusiast, a magazine and mail-order company that sells wine accessories, a self-storage facility and an indoor athletic facility with turf fields for activities including baseball and basketball plus golf instruction. There have been discussions about a health club.
While Grand Prix New York has its boosters, several visitors said they thought that to attract repeat business, it should lower fees. The track requires a $10 license fee and $25 for a race of 15 laps. By buying an annual pass for $50, drivers can forgo the $10 fee. For a yearly fee of $4,500, a driver gets unlimited races.
“I was thinking they should discount the races for those who have the annual pass,” Mr. Bruno, one of the Somers High students, said. “It’s still expensive, especially for a high schooler.”
Sabina Gagliano and Fran Eckel, Somers residents who had brought their sons, agreed.
“It’s a little pricey,” Mrs. Eckel said. “I’d like to see some kind of discount program where you can buy five rides. You’d have a lot more people coming and staying here and racing more than once if it was a little bit more cost-effective.”
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Grand Prix New York check them out if you live in the NYC area...
virtual tour
Racing with CBS
Uptown Track
Downtown Track
Did you ever go go-karting? Have a neighbor who built a go-kart out of a lawnmower engine as a kid?
Growing up in Southern California I used to go go-karting with some friends from 10 until 21. We always had a blast. The last time I went carting was in Las Vegas. I never did ever drive at Malibu Grand Prix, always just played video games there.... don't know why I never drove those wannabe formula 1 cars.
I remember learning how to spin out the leader with a simple tap to the rear wheel at the right moment.....
good times... good times...
Anyone have any go-karting stories???
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