Lots of pictures and what not here:

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... to_jersey_city_red_b.html

Jersey City gears up to host Red Bull championship airplane race's spectators at Liberty State Park
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
By MELISSA HAYES
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

NEW YORK - Wearing his red and white jumpsuit, Canadian pilot Pete McLeod stood in Times Square taking in the sights.

It was his first stop in New York City and he described the experience as "pretty amazing."

At 26, McLeod is the newest and youngest pilot flying in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship, having joined the competition last year. He stopped in New York yesterday with four other pilots to officially kick off the race's first East Coast event.

The race, in which 15 pilots will attempt to fly through an obstacle course floating on water, will be held over the Hudson River June 19 and 20. The New York skyline will serve as a backdrop for the race, which is expected to bring 30,000 spectators to Liberty State Park in Jersey City.

"This is a long time coming," Race Director Jim DiMatteo said. "It has been almost three years that we have been working on this project."

Red Bull Air Race officials joined Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy and New York City officials in celebrating the event and 100 years of air races in New York and the United States. The first East Coast air show was held at Belmont Park in October 1910.

"It's going to be a spectacular event, take place in a majestic venue with the greatest pilots on Earth doing things you can't believe," Healy said.

Members of the Friends of Liberty State Park viewed the course map, which was part of a standing display on the 100 years of air shows that Red Bull opened to the public yesterday.

Pilots are timed as they traverse the obstacles and the fastest racer wins. Points are accrued at each leg of the race. The next stop is June 5 and 6 in Ontario, Canada. Then the race comes to Jersey City before heading to Germany and Hungary in August and ending the season in Portugal in September.

Paul Bonhomme, of Great Britain, won the race last year and is the overall points leader so far this year. He said while the pilots get along, the Red Bull Air Race is "100 percent competition."

"When we're on the track, it's all out war," he said. "We're there to win."

The Jersey City course will be between the historic rail terminal and Ellis Island. Sam Pesin, president of Friends of Liberty State Park (FOLSP), said the event would help raise revenue for the park through ticket sales and would attract people to the park who don't normally visit.

Pesin added that the race will make a donation to the FOLSP for future park improvements and must return the park to the way it was after the event is over.

Pilot Kirby Chambliss' aerobatics airplane was displayed at Military Island in Time Square yesterday during the press kick-off. While Chambliss, of Arizona, doesn't race that plane, he will be flying it during a Memorial Day weekend show in Jones Beach.

Chambliss said he is looking forward to racing in Jersey City.

"It's always nice to race in your own country," he said.

Not sure it's such a good idea to have an air race with planes careening around National Landmarks like the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

Yikes!

But I'm glad it doesn't compromise Liberty State Park land for years to come like Formula 1 would.

Looks like fun!!!!

I've done a good 15 minutes of research on this, and it looks awesome!

I'd love to watch this from out on the water, so if anybody knows whether or not marine traffic will be allowed in the area, please offer some insight!

On another note, it is certainly a bit annoying that they bill this as a NYC event, but it does seem like Jersey City will be mentioned in the promotions. Hopefully Jersey City will continue to build it's brand and someday be known as a household name, as a city that has it's own identity yet is closely related to it's behemoth neighbor NYC. Sort of like how the Los Angeles area consists of smaller "cities" that are known as their own identity, yet are also considered "LA". Think Hollywood, Beverly Hills, etc. It's all "LA", but those individual towns have a very strong "brand" independently as well.

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It's sort of an obstacle course race around large air-filled pylons. Lots of acrobatic turns. Here are some vids on the Red Bull Racing site:

Linky

Unfortunately, I can't open any of the PDFs that have been posted in this thread, and I'm not sure why. I'm completely unfamiliar with these types of air races. So the race will literally just be between Ellis Island and LSP?

Will the waterways be shut down? I.e, can one watch from a personal watercraft out in the Upper NY Bay?

or watch from Ellis if you're into that

It looks like you should be able to see some of it from the Colgate Clock area and the Morris Canal park at the end of Washinghton St. It does not go up the Hudson at all, just between Ellis Island and the Old Rail Station.

Try this link for the map: http://www.redbullairrace.com/cs/Sate ... 48325098684&ssbinary=true

I browsed around briefly, and I'm seeing that grandstand is $65 - $95 (depends on day and # of days). Wow, isn't that kind of steep, considering for a family of 4???

So - can we see this from somewhere WITHOUT having to pay? I'm surprised that they can actually close the whole park for this!!!

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They don't have to build a track and permanatly take away park space

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If you download the Area Map PDF from this page, you can see where it will be. It's as far from the millionaire's golf course as it can be.

Red Bull NY

As was pointed out in the All Points West thread, the site says the event "will take place for the first time in New York over the Hudson River at Liberty State Park in Jersey City."

Maybe we're finally the sixth borough.

Another opportunity that should be grasp with both hands and lobbied as a permanent fixture

June air race in Liberty State Park is expected to generate millions for Jersey City

Tuesday, May 04, 2010
By MELISSA HAYES
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Tickets are now on sale for the Red Bull Air Race at Jersey City's Liberty State Park this summer.

With the New York skyline as a backdrop, Liberty State Park will play host to the race June 19 and 20. The first day is a series of qualifying rounds and the second day is the race.

Fifteen pilots are competing in the sixth Red Bull Air Race World Championship this year. They've already flown races in Abu Dhabi and Australia and head to Rio de Janeiro this week.

The two American competitors, Kirby Chambliss, of Arizona, and Michael Goulian, of Massachusetts, visited the race site in March to promote the event. Chambliss is in seventh place and Goulian is in ninth heading into the next race.

The Jersey City race is the only one being held in the country this season.

Tickets for the Liberty State Park race are $30 for standing room and $50 for grandstand. There are also premium two-day tickets for viewing from the Race Club for $540 and VIP seating in the High Flyers Club are $1,650 for both days.

The race is expected to generate millions in revenue for both Jersey City and New York City.

"We look forward to our partnership with both cities and providing spectators with an incredible experience," Red Bull Air Race CEO Bernd Loidl said in a statement.

The race will not be seen from Manhattan.

For tickets and other information visit www.redbullairrace.com

An obstacle course in the air
Pilots will participate in major air race in JC

by Ricardo Kaulessar
Reporter Staff Writer

AIRING OUT RACE TO COUNCIL ? The City Council heard a presentation at their Monday caucus about the Red Bull Air Race coming to the city. The international series of air races, in which professional pilots navigate a challenging obstacle course in the fastest time, will be held over Liberty State Park on June 19 and 20.

The Red Bull Air Race is coming to Jersey City, possibly bringing thousands of dollars in revenue to area businesses.

The international series of air races, in which professional pilots navigate an obstacle course, will be held in the skies over Liberty State Park on June 19 and 20.

Bruce Bedell, event marketing manager for Red Bull North America, the energy drink company that created the event in 2003, gave a presentation to the City Council at their caucus on Monday.

The council was scheduled at their Wednesday meeting to approve a resolution to ?promote and support? the race.

The races are usually flown over water near cities (the course for the Jersey City race will be over the Hudson River), but are also held at airfields or natural wonders. They are accompanied by a supporting program of show flights.
_____________

The Red Bull Air Race will be held over Liberty State Park in Jersey City in June.
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The competitors use high-performance aerobatic planes that have a wingspan of less than 25 feet and fly at top speeds ranging from 252 to 265 mph. Pilots do not compete for a monetary prize but are paid to compete.

An international audience of millions

In 2009, the races were held in six cities around the world. Over 3.5 million spectators attended the races, and over 300 million followed on television broadcasts internationally.

Bedell said Jersey City will be one of the locations in the 2010 race schedule, which also includes the United Arab Emirates and Australia.

He also described how Red Bull will employ all kinds of safety precautions for the race, as required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). These will include a 500-foot air buffer to protect any nearby structures from a crash. Bedell pointed out there have been 48 air race events held since 2004 without any major incidents.

Bedell said the race also brings economic benefits to the towns where they have been held. He said that in 2008, $37 million was generated in San Diego and over $50 million for Detroit.

Council members Bill Gaughan and David Donnelly both vouched for the event, having visited Windsor, Ontario last year to view the race when it was held there. Gaughan described the event as ?amazing? due to the amount of preparation and management he observed. He compared the race to the Barclays golf tournament that occurred last summer.

?It?s a tremendous event for the city ? and it?s a tremendous economic boost,? Gaughan said.

Donnelly said Windsor police officers told him the race was one of the ?easiest to maintain.?

City Business Administrator Brian O?Reilly asked Bedell about Jersey City being mentioned in the banners for the air race. Bedell said that recognition is in the contract that Red Bull and the city were expected to sign shortly.

Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com.

Red Bull Air Race coming to Jersey City waterfront

By Melissa Hayes/The Jersey Journal
January 15, 2010, 5:49PM

The Red Bull Air Race is coming to Jersey City in June. Last year the race stopped in Barcelona (shown) in October. The event is expected to generate millions in revenue for the local economy.

Small aircraft will race above the Hudson River performing death-defying stunts when the Red Bull Air Race comes to Jersey City this summer.

The competitive race will be held at Liberty State Park June 19 and 20 and is expected to draw thousands of spectators significantly boost the local economy.

?The Red Bull Air Race is a high-caliber event that provides international exposure and will bring millions of tourism dollars into our city,? Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy said in a press release. ?We are aggressively marketing Jersey City as a global brand and we are thrilled to have the world?s most talented pilots compete above our Hudson River waterfront.?

Representatives from the race gave a presentation at last week?s City Council meeting.

The race is being marketed as a New York City event.
But council members and City Business Administrator Brian O?Reilly reminded representatives fans will be watching from Jersey City.

Bruce Bedell, a marketing manager for the event, said Jersey City would appear in advertisements.

The event is televised on the Fox News Network and shown in 174 countries. The 2010 season includes nine events. Jersey City is the only venue in the United States. The race is in its sixth year and will also visit Canada, Germany and Australia among others.

Bedell said there have been 48 events since the race?s inception and all have been incident-free.

?The safety record is something we take very seriously,? he said.

Set up for the race takes about three weeks, which means about 350 crew members will stay in area hotels.
The planes would fly out of an airport in Linden to the obstacle course floating in the Hudson River. There would be a 500-foot buffer between the course and where fans can gather.

Bedell said large television screens at Liberty State Park would show the event close-up.

Ward D Councilman Bill Gaughan and Ward B Councilman David Donnelly, who was working in the mayor?s office at the time, attended the race in Ontario Canada last year.
?It?s amazing,? Gaughan said adding. ?It?s tremendous the way they organize this thing with all the air traffic and water traffic.?

He added, ?It?s a tremendous event for the city.?
Donnelly said he spoke with Canadian police who said the event was well run and easy to control.

?It was one of the most efficient events I?ve ever seen run,? he said.

Bedell said events were held in San Diego and Detroit in 2008 and based on polls at least 50 percent of the attendees were from out of town. He said the event generated $37 million for the local economy in San Diego and $50 million in Detroit.

?We?re starting to develop a pretty big fan base,? he said. ?You can see that the event brings some significant economic impact to the city.?