USATF at Ocean Breeze??

I was wondering about parking. Can you park on the street? Not sure if I'll drive our try and take transport.

I may write an article about my excursions to Staten Island the last 2 days. Took me 2 hours by public transport to get to the meet hotel yesterday. Today I drove. About an hour. From Manhattan both times.

Going to the meet I might not drive as I could work on the way home.

Looks like one really needs a car in Staten Island. Very different from the rest of NYC.

How was the facility? I've heard its beautiful.

I'd rather pay $20 parking than travel to Albuquerque.

Park across the street in one of the big empty lots and walk over. Price = nothing.

Who goes to a meet to eat crap? Bring your own food.

awer wrote:

Park across the street in one of the big empty lots and walk over. Price = nothing.

Who goes to a meet to eat crap? Bring your own food.

Yea they are charging to park on those big empty lots this weekend.

For what it is worth wrote:

awer wrote:

Park across the street in one of the big empty lots and walk over. Price = nothing.

Who goes to a meet to eat crap? Bring your own food.

Yea they are charging to park on those big empty lots this weekend.

Oh, that sucks.

$20 for parking is nothing in NYC.

Everything you enter Staten Island on a bridge I think it’s $15

The most depressing venue I have ever been to

Heading there next weekend for New York State High School Championships:

Been there the past couple of years. Great track, plenty of seating, but sometimes too far from the action as opposed to the Armory. The food stand situation has always seemed bass ackwards to most people, slow without a clue to how to be efficient.

I stay over the bridge in Brooklyn, plenty to do over there and not too far from the meet site!

The Ocean Breeze facility is great. The Armory is a dump, nice track, but the facility itself is a dump.

as far as the location, the armory is in the city which has more to offer, ocean breeze is out in the middle of nowhere.

LOLing at anyone who might have thought Staten Island was *anything* like "the rest of NYC"

Is it wheelchair friendly?

My kids run indoor meets at Ocean Breeze so I can say a few things.

Really the only nice thing I can say about Ocean Breeze is that the ventilation seems better than other indoor tracks.

I really can't stand the high and mighty NYC parks department employees that work there.

Meets start at 9am and they won't open the doors before 8am. Causes chaos trying to get 1000+ athletes situated.

I feel your pain about $20 parking bc I have $20 in tolls every time I go to Ocean Breeze.

Warmup area is always crowded with kids from club teams messing around.

Concession stand is always understaffed and the line clogs up the hallway.

PA system is difficult to hear.

Not sure if the scoreboard can also be used as a video board but I've never seen it used in that way.

Ranking the places I've been to in NYC for meets...

1. Van Cortlandt Park....just bc I love cross country

2. Icahn Stadium....NYC Parks dept employees piss me off here too.

3. Ocean Breeze

4. Armory.......doesn't impress me.

5. Brooklyn YMCA......long drive to get there and parking is sketchy

The Staten Island ferry from the foot of Manhattan is free. It's not near Ocean Breeze, but I doubt it's $20 away.

In general it's easier and quicker to get to Philadelphia from Manhattan than it is to get to Staten Island.

It is beautiful, but like many things on Staten Island, weirdly insular.

The location blows. The south shore of SI is hurricane overwash zone. That's why the thing is elevated. Parking is $20 because nearly everyone drives on SI. There is some parking along Father Capadono Blvd, but it's limited. If you don't have a car, you can expect to travel 2+ hrs from Manhattan or South Brooklyn. More from further north. It does nothing to relieve the insane overcrowding at the Armory uptown as it's only convenient for SI schools.

The food vendor is a joke. I would hope OB and the Armory realize they are the host to a sport that is based on, well, human health. We might suck down some greasy axx chicken tenders and limp fries after a race, but please consider some 21st century options.

My advice is to pack a lunch, but conceal it on the way in as they will turn you away if you bring your own food.

[quote]play the new wrote:

Food- only 1 food stand and only 1 guy working? Even on a low attendance day there was a long line for food. Took me 10 min just to get a candy bar

you can't go 2 hours without food tubby?

skeller15 wrote:

Not sure if the scoreboard can also be used as a video board but I've never seen it used in that way.

I'm still at facility. It is beautiful. A bit hard to hear at times but so is the Armory.

My #1 complaint is what you have above. Finally at some point at the very end they put up video highlighs on the jumobtron instead of showing a running clock. Fans need to see video not a clock. Such a huge waste of a video board to show a clock.

hot buttered popcorn wrote:

[quote]play the new wrote:

Food- only 1 food stand and only 1 guy working? Even on a low attendance day there was a long line for food. Took me 10 min just to get a candy bar

you can't go 2 hours without food tubby?

I usually run a couple hours before I go to an indoor meet so it would be hard for me to go 2 hours without eating. I'm 5'8" 132 and in my 50s.

Pretty sure the Spire will have some good healthy food. Had a veggie burger last year and I'm not even a vegan!!!

I actually love the place. Nice lighting. Nice ventilation, so I don't get a scratchy throat from gun smoke. I raced there many times and love the track. I like that I can cool down and warm up by the ocean, it's a great view!

Stayed in the Financial District. Walked to Staten Island Ferry and took a bus directly from St George to the venue. The whole trip takes ~90 minutes each way, but only costs ~$3. It was easier getting there than I expected, honestly.

The venue itself is nice and new. They did seem a bit disorganized on Saturday. (For example, they didn’t have any way to scan tickets when I arrived, so they just cut off the stub instead with scissors. This was resolved by Sunday.)

The only venue I can compare it to is Reggie. You’re seated a bit further away from the action here, but it seems like Ocean Breeze can fit more people overall. The food vendor may have been subpar, but what can you expect? They did serve beer for this event, which I liked. The warm-up options are obviously better here, with the downside of a longer commute.