McSam betting on Staten Island NASCAR track
There are the those who hate the idea and then there are the hopefuls where the Staten Island NASCAR track is concerned. Many oppose the Staten Island NASCAR track with every single energy they have in their bodies while many other lobby for the realization of NY having its Staten Island NASCAR track become a reality. Despite difficulty if getting approvals and cutting through the red tape surrounding the track's plans, International Speedway Corporation, the raceway giant who are trying to push the NASCAR track through, intends to continue on with the fight. Last month, International Speedway Corporation had two of their permits to cart soil into the potential NASCAR track revoked. It certainly put a dent in their plans but despite all of that, they intend to pursue it with a revised plan.
As we said, there are hatefuls and there are hopefuls…and apparently, on the face of it, well-known hotelier Sam Chang's Queens-based McSam Hotel Group are among the hopefuls. They are already developing a new hotel with 3,000 rooms with two more in Travis in the pipeline. And last month, they follow up with another application to build a Holiday Inn Express. Not enough? McSam Group paid $5 million for a two acre land where Fun Bubble used to be and intends to build another hotel there.
While McSam denies that their plans of building hotel after hotel surrounding the proposed Staten Island NASCAR track, some might find it a little bit intriguing that the new site for Chang's hotel is next to West Shore Expressway…somewhat too close to the Staten Island NASCAR track for comfort.
It is common for Staten Islanders to debate over just about anything…especially development of their island therefore, McSam's interest in the area surrounding the proposed track raised concerns. Residents of Staten Island are trying to imagine how many hotels Staten Island can sustain; and of course, they are wondering if McSam's sudden interest in the neighboring lands a suggestion of his support for International Speedway Corporation's NASCAR track.
As an answer to allegations that he is in support of the NASCAR track, he replied by saying that a city with 0.5 million people should have at least 2,500 rooms. As of last count, Staten Island has about 500 rooms. Fair enough.