BY RICH CIMINI DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER Friday, April 4th 2008, 4:00 AM The moving fans are on call; the Jets are becoming full-time New Jersey residents sooner than expected. After 40 years at Hofstra, site of their year-round practice facility on Long Island, the Jets have moved up their departure date and will be leaving after training camp, the club announced Thursday. They will be moving to the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, N.J., roughly 30 miles west of Manhattan. Initially, the plan was to make the move next offseason, but construction is ahead of schedule and the football operation will be packing up in late August or early September. One potential glitch: The club doesn't have an exact date, and if the facility isn't ready by the start of the regular season, the team may not want the distraction of an in-season move. Owner Woody Johnson, in a statement released by the team, said the new facility "will offer a competitive advantage for our players and coaches while uniting our entire organization under one roof. It is beneficial for us to move after training camp as soon as the facility is ready." The new headquarters will include four outdoor fields (three natural grass, one artificial turf) and an 86,000-square-foot fieldhouse housing one artificial-turf field. The central training facility is 130,000 square feet, and will be home to 125 employees from the football and corporate departments. Players and team officials already are house hunting in New Jersey.
I will definitely be at TC again this year just to soak up the last of the Hofstra practices, but it'll probably be pretty crowded considering the Long Islanders will want to watch it for the last time too.
After this year I think I'll sell my house here in Nassau County and move to Jersey just to be closer to training camp.
Seriously, the Hofstra practices are quite nostalgic. I made the trip there from central Jersey several years ago just to see what it was like. I have to say, I was quite surprised. It's a college campus alright, and quite charming in its own right... but nestled in the town of Hempstead, which I would consider a congested, somewhat-on-the decline middle class neighborhood of Long Island. The campus is congenial, quiet and still has a rural feel to the campus, although it's confined by the contraints of the surrounding, growing, sprawling suburb of NY itself and that of the ever-growing upwardly-mobile populations that need the proximity and access to NY. If you've never gone to a Hofstra practice from Jersey, you need to do it this summer. My son is also a huge Jets fan but has never had the time to go to TC at Hofstra. I'm going to make every effort to bring him this year, because I think you'll never know the roots of the Jets until you've (A) been to a game at Shea or (B) been to a Hofstra Training Camp.
I live in Northern NJ in a town near the Jets new training facility and some Jet players have been house hunting in my town. This plan to move this year must be for real.
I love going to Hofstra each summer. It is sad to see that tradition end after this summer, but I bet the new facilities will be awesome too.
i think its great.closer to me and closer for the players to their new stadium. the players from the ones who have spoken out,hated taking a bus to their won home games that was named GIANTS STADIUM. and i dont believed it helped us have our practice facility that far from the stadium with free agants. out with the old in with the new.
Neither of these teams should be called New York any more. It's disrespectful to their actual home in New Jersey and it's false representation. The New England Patriots are called that because they don't play in Boston. They used to play in Boston and they were the Boston Patriots, then they moved to Foxboro and became the New England Patriots. The Giants haven't actually been a New York team in any sense of the word since 1976. The Jets have now cut their last ties to New York and actually have no connection here. Let them both do the New England thing and be honest about where they play.
That's VERY GENEROUS of you. As a Long Island resident, I'll provide you with an analogy. Hempstead below Hempstead Turnpike(and the surrounding communities of Roosevelt and Uniondale) are more like a miniature Paterson, NJ these days than anything else. I'm fairly upset about this move. I know the Jets have a pretty big fan base in Jersey, but Long Island is really big time Jet land. Truth be told, I'm crushed by this move to Jersey. Jets players have lived in my area for quite some time. I've hung out with Leon Washington, I've waited on Mo Lewis and his family and Josh Evans and his agent, and I used to see Erik Coleman in the bar. I was at Shea yesterday watching that debacle and looking forward to the draft and wondering to myself why the hell they couldn't just pop another Stadium with subway access over in Flushing. In any event, I'm going to make a major effort to get out to Hofstra this year. Long Island is going to miss the Jets. -X-
i have been going to hofstra since 02 and to tell you the truth,its nothing special.no place to eat in the facility,the gift shop is a tent that is usually 900 degrees.the only plus is the generation jets fan fest for my kids.man do they love that shit. hopefully that will also take place in floral park
goodbye Long Island. won't miss you! [from the bowl-off event] damn glad to see Curtis still involved with the organization so much
I for one am happy because now the curse of Hofstra will be off there backs & maybe the removal of the curse will help them win a few WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPs. I also do not buy your LIers are so loyal to the NYJs argument since the majority of the LI season tix holders deserted the team in 84 when they did not renew there season tix when the move to the M/lands took place
No matter how you say it The New York Jets no longer exsist:sad: Say what you can but the New York Titans became the New York Jets. They originally practiced in Flushing Meadows and played their games at Shea and moved their practices to Hofstra. They had a NY identity living and practicing on Long Island and Sunday's played at Shea. After 1984 Hess left the flooded bathrooms of Shea for the fresh aroma of Methane gas and diesel fumes at Giant's Stadium.However they stilled had offices and practices at Hofstra. They had a Long Island identity for over 4o years. Now no sooner had Woody's Westside Taj Mahal been shot down, Woody went back in to bed with the NJSEA and the Giants. The Giants kept their offices near the new stadium while the Jets moved 20+ miles away in Florham Park NJ.Any one see any deja vue'. WE've been tenants of the Gianys for 25 years and will still be under their name with this new stadium. I would be screaming as a NJ resident that neither team has changed their name to the Jersey ***** Over 40 years and the Jets still don't have their own place.:shit:
