There was a bit of miscommunication over in Sunnyside, Staten Island, last night, where attendees at a hearing on the proposed 80,000-seat NASCAR track in the borough seemed confused about what sport they'd come there about.
After representatives from racetrack developer International Speedway Corp. spoke, the crowd inside the school’s auditorium turned unruly and began heckling elected officials once they took to the microphone. One man even tried to wrestle the microphone out of City Councilman Andrew Lanza’s hands by placing the official in a partial headlock. Outside, throngs of people who couldn’t get in chanted, held up placards and engaged in often boisterous debate with one another. Borough President James P. Molinaro blamed the “ruckus” on the Department of City Planning ... By 7:20 p.m., the cops had officially shut down the meeting.· Pandemonium closes NASCAR meeting [SIAdvance]
· Staten Island, Start Your Engines [Curbed] BONUS: From the Post, manhanled Lanza speaks out: "This was no democracy tonight. This was a mob. ... NASCAR created this environment tonight. If this is their strategy, they should go home."