BMXer Blake Jordan Pearce from Oklahoma needs a kidney. Contact his mother Stephanie Pearce (stephaniedpearce@gmail.com) if you know someone who can help. Or,  check out their Facebook page and spread the word. http://www.facebook.com/Blake.Jordans.Miracle

CBS DFW news story.. http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2012/03/01/mother-takes-to-facebook-to-find-miracle-kidney-for-her-son/

Bicycles and Basketballs Could be in the Armory’s Future

By Jeanmarie Evelly

Photo by Adi Talwar

There’s less than a month left for those vying to take over the Kingsbridge Armory to submit their proposals to the city, and a number of organizations have come forward with ideas for filling the long-vacant, 600,000-square-foot building.

Recently, a group of cycling enthusiasts who have been campaigning to turn the Armory into a giant bicycling center have teamed up with New York Gauchos, a Bronx-based youth basketball program, as well as several other sports-oriented groups, with the intent of converting the structure into an enormous sports, recreation and wellness center.

“There’s a lot of enthusiasm for our vision,” said Rocky Bucano, vice president for the Teamwork Foundation, Inc., the nonprofit that runs Gauchos. “They know the previous roadblocks were the pure retail plans, which were not a good fit for the community.”

It’s been two years since a previous plan to turn the building into a giant shopping mall was killed by the City Council after a tense political battle between the developer and local activists over wages. During his State of the City speech in the Bronx in January, Mayor Bloomberg announced that the city would once again be seeking pitches from developers interested in the Armory, with a deadline of March 22 for submitting proposals to the Economic Development Corporation.

The current Request for Proposals does not rule out the possibility of another mall project, though local activists and politicians have long-advocated for a more community-based use for the building.

Since last fall, the National Cycling Association (NCA) has been trying to raise money to build a velodrome inside the Armory — an angled, oval bicycle racing track — in the hopes of turning the space into the site of a 6-day professional bike racing event the group wants to host this spring.

That original plan was met with some skepticism from local activists. Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter, a member of the Kingsbridge Armory Redevlopment Alliance (KARA), a coalition of residents, clergy and community groups advocating for responsible development of the Armory, told the Norwood News in November that the NCA’s plan seemed to offer little benefit to the community.

“This is a temporary idea for next spring that does nothing for the surrounding community,” Pilgirm-Hunter said at the time. “They will make money, the community will not.”

Now, NCA is teaming up with New York Guachos, indoor rock-climbing gym Brooklyn Boulders, and a BMX skate group from Staten Island — under the umbrella name the Armory Sports and Entertainment Group — to submit a proposal for a massive recreational center that would offer a variety of sports programs for neighborhood residents, according to Bucano.

In addition to the proposed velodrome, the group’s vision includes a 5,000-seat sports arena, professional basketball courts, rock climbing walls, a skate park, a “hostel-style” hotel for visiting sports teams, sports medicine clinic and wellness center, Bucano said.

“This is all community focused,” he said. “We would offer low-cost youth programs where the kids could get training. We would have a recreation center open to the community, where they could get fitness work. The community programs are essential to what we’re doing.”

The coalition is in talks with a number of developers to finance the project, Bucano said, and is conducting a feasibility study to determine the plan’s economic viability.

The New York Gauchos has been operating since 1967, offering a competitive basketball program to hundreds of children and teens each year, with a focus on getting the students into college. The group has been working out of a gym in the South Bronx for the last several decades, Bucano said, but has long since outgrown the space.

“We’re kind of stretching at the seams over here,” he said.

Other sports groups have expressed their interest in setting up shop at the Amory. As the Norwood Newsreported last month, a group of investors — including New York Rangers star Mark Messier — want to turn the space into an ice rink and the region’s biggest hockey complex. World Changers Church International, an Atlanta-based, nondenominational parish led by television evangelical preacher Creflo Dollar, has also been eyeing the space, and sent several representative to a walk-through of the site earlier this month, according toCrain’s New York.

But to Bucano, basketball is a natural fit for the Bronx.

Whole story.

http://www.norwoodnews.org/id=6215&story=bicycles-and-basketballs-could-be-in-the-armorys-future/

Here is a little something I have been working on with Mike Green from NCA.

Hopefully in a few years there will be an Indoor Skatepark there next to the Veldrome

Whole Story Here.

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/video?id=8521132

Click here for tickets to the Roller Race.

The New York Cycling community is coming together to support the development of a state of the art velodrome complex at the Kingsbridge Armory.

The Event

Roller Race on January 19,2012 at Amity Hall 80 W. 3 St.
Admission $20
John Eustice M.C
Bronx Brewery Drafts for $4

Roller Racing is becoming a hot topic. Ch. 7 News is coming to cover the event.

See the exciting final round Roller Race Video from December’s “Drink Floyd” race.

Capacity limit is only 150. Ensure a spot.Get Tickets here.

Racing starts at 7:30 PM. Come early for Happy Hour and dinner. Amity Hall has a Full Menu

Info for Racers

Race Entry $10
$500 Prize Money – payout is for first five places. $200,$125,$75,$50,$50

Winner receives free entry for Red Hook Crit

sign up at 6:30 at the race venue – USAC license required – 2012 licenses and 1-Day licenses will be available.

The roller racing rules including gear restrictions.

Read the whole story here.

http://www.ncacycling.com/2012/01/support-the-kingsbridge-armory-velodrome-roller-race/

The kids and parents all hit McDonalds by the track and had signs up and we made the paper again:)

http://www.facebook.com/lakeperrisbmx

Here is the story of what happened (short version:) and some pictures, etc.

Ronda Bartley took over the Lake Perris Bmx Track.  The old owner was about to lose it because she couldn’t afford to keep it running.

Wednesday night she showed up to the track to find the gates locked and a posting that the Riverside County had seized the property for taxes owned $5,315.00 by the OLD TRACK OWNER.  When she took over the track in September it was to cost about $36,000., she is now in $90,000.00 worth of debt from unpaid bills (from the old track owner) to the ABA (American Bmx Assoc.), Perris Fairgrounds, other taxes, etc.  She has given everything she had and all she wants is for the track to be their for the riders and their families.  All funds raised will be used to pay taxes off and any remaining will be used to pay the old track owners past arrears to the ABA and FAIR.

We told her to set up a paypal account so we could all donate to help save the track and post all over Facebook to our friends and family because she only has until the 8th to come up with the money or they close the track for good.  So far we have only come up with about $1450.00 since we started asking for help yesterday.

Ronda called the county Tax investigator yesterday and begged him to allow her to race this weekend to allow her to raise the money to pay the old track owners bills and they said no-that she just needed to pay the $5366.31.

Of course if they would be willing to give her more time-she would have no problem taking care of this matter.

We have so many wonderful families that use this track and it is the only one in the Inland Empire!

We have toddlers as young as 2 all the way up to men in their 50′s who still come to race, have fun with their friends & family, and get a great workout!  Their motto is even “keeping kids clean in the dirt”.

Please watch some videos from the lake perris bmx track so you can see what we will be losing if this track closes!

If there is any assistance you could give us that would be so great!

You can also read more about Ronda here:
http://perrisbmx.com/about-us.php

RONDA BARTLEY

PERRIS BMX TRACK

18700 LAKE PERRIS DR., PERRIS, CA 92571-7018

(951) 588-3816

perrisbmx@gmail.com

Thank you Michelle for your email.

All above text written by Michelle.

I don’t have all the info but here is what I can tell you.

Late Friday I received an email from our site. Michelle left a  comment that said:

PLEASE HELP SAVE THE LAKE PERRIS BMX TRACK!!

Here is the link to the Facebook page and here is what was said on it

http://www.facebook.com/events/241185729280200/

I guess email her if you have any questions @ goldilockslovespolkadots@gmail.com.

We tried and she did not respond yet.

Thanks Ed Pollio

National Cycling Association unveils plan for

velodrome and BMX park in Kingsbridge Armory

Would rent landmark site for youth programs and six-day bicycle races

BY DANIEL BEEKMAN
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Thursday, November 3 2011, 6:31 PM

Handout

A rendering of plans for a velodrome in the Kingsbridge Armory.

Michael Schwartz for New York Daily News

The long vacant Kingsbridge Armory could be site of a world-class velodrome and BMX park.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national-cycling-association-unveils-plan-velodrome-bmx-park-kingsbridge-armory-article-1.971978#ixzz1cmjv1sfF

Riders get involved!

Future plans developing for Albany, New York. BMX riders need to get involved to secure a place within these facilities!

Here’s the link

http://alloveralbany.com/archive/2011/09/21/capital-region-skateparks#more

Screen Shot from aticle

Lake Forest, California opened a skatepark that allowed both BMX and skateboards, with the help of Etnies shoe brand, 7 years ago. It recently updated and expanded, in the process of doing so it also banned BMX from using the facility. Why? Still our guess, but the city claims a liability issue. Why wasn’t there a liability issue 7 years ago?

 LINK TO STORY

Here is a video of me asking NYC Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe a question about the Benjamin Soto skate park on August 9th, 2011 at the Museum of New York City.  More about the meeting here.

I guess he didn’t see this video.

Councilman Oddo Threatens To Cut Funds To Parks Department from Group Home Bikes on Vimeo.

Thanks Johanna at parkslope.patch.com