The silver lining on a dark cloud – can you see it?
Even critics of the proposed Staten Island Nascar Track have to sit around among themselves and conclude that if International Speedway Corporation's plans are not intelligent or brilliant, the plans are nothing short of ‘innovative'. As they scamper around volleying plans, proposals, suggestions with the residents who are opposing the plans, the better the plan is truly becoming.
International Speedway Corp (ISC) is not the first and certainly not the only giant trying to bring more cars into the traffic-choked roads and bridges of Staten Island . The Bloomberg Administration tried to being a stadium and arena into the island too. While many agree that Staten Island really doesn't need that extra traffic and the glamour that comes along with having your own stadium and NASCAR track, ISC's plans came out as a winner when it all boils down to innovativeness. The ISC plans can be said to be the most thoughtful and urban-friendly plan among all the plans that Staten Island 's been getting.
Taking into consideration the choked-up streets of Staten Island , ISC plans to curb the number of cars coming into the island during race days by allocating only 8,400 parking spaces for the 80,000-seat NASCAR track. People coming to the NASCAR track are given tickets and the mode of transportation, i.e. ferry or bus, is attached to the ticket. Apparently, ISC plans to commission 90 ferries or so during race weekends to bring race fans into the island. Whether this plan will work or not remains to be seen. But many people agree that this seems like a sound idea. Furthermore, another considerate act on the part of ISC is that they have given Staten Islanders first choice for the parking spaces.
If ISC's plan is nothing else, they should be given credit for taking the needs of the islanders into consideration by thinking ahead about how people are going to get to the NASCAR track prior to getting the approval. Many companies go ahead with the proposals first before taking any consideration of the needs of the locals. This could result in a lot of backtracking and dissatisfaction among the locals.
Although ISC's yet to answer the environmental issues concerning building a NASCAR track there, it's shown a lot of sensitivity towards the current and future impact that the track will have on the islanders. The NASCAR track, when not in use, will be dedicated to the community for use as sports field, non-profit organizations and charitable events.
Even if many are opposing the ISC NASCAR track plan, people should see that ISC have given a lot of thought and put a lot of effort into bringing this NASCAR track around without causing too much trouble to the local community. They should, if nothing else, be given credit for doing that.