Gentlemen, Mix Your Metaphors!

The contentious plan to build a NASCAR track on Staten Island has been derailed:

Two years after buying a huge swath of undeveloped land on Staten Island’s West Shore, International Speedway Corp. yesterday scrapped its controversial plan to build a NASCAR raceway with 82,500 seats, citing fierce political opposition as the insurmountable hurdle.

ISC, which was bitterly opposed by those worried about traffic congestion on race weekends, said it plans to sell the 675-acre parcel in Bloomfield, and despite yesterday’s announcement still hopes to build a raceway somewhere within 30 miles of Manhattan.

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Island politicians had been neutral to vitriolic in their opinion of the plan, citing traffic concerns that were exacerbated when ISC suggested shutting two consecutive ramps onto the Staten Island Expressway after races. The Island’s three-man City Council contingent was implacably opposed — and the Council would have had final say on the raceway plan.

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Councilman Michael McMahon, the North Shore Democrat, wants the city to purchase the land and study potential uses.

“To me, that would be the perfect world, for the city to buy it. What I would dream of is having a golf course there — but it’s not for me to say,” McMahon said.

John Gallagher, a spokesman for Dan Doctoroff, deputy mayor for economic development, said the city has been studying uses for the entire West Shore and “will work with stakeholders to responsibly move forward with the best possible proposal for the site.”