Atco Dragway targeted unfairly by NJ government (Opinion)

Len Capone is frustrated. He sees examples across New Jersey and in dozens of other states with thousands of people gathering to celebrate life and live normally. The Super Bowl, the Texas Rangers home opener, street celebrations after Alabama won the national championship and of course spring break and the thousands of open bars and restaurants across Florida, Texas and other states. Not in New Jersey of course.

Len is the guy in charge of Atco Dragway, a New Jersey institution in the southern half of the Garden State. Actually people come from all over the region to enjoy a day of racing with family and friends. And they've been doing it for the past 61 years. This past weekend, the complicit, pro-lockdown superintendent of the New Jersey State Police reared his ugly head again.

Despite the fact that the raceway is 180 open acres and has the capacity for 20-30 thousands spectators, the state capped the capacity at 30% of the grandstand. The bleachers held 10,000 so they were limited to 3,000 fans. Even though they were well under that number, the government came in and shut them down with only 1,100 fans. As Len puts it, it was the state action that caused most of the traffic troubles that day, how history repeats.

The hypocrisy in NJ is crushing businesses like Atco Dragway. According to Len, who joined me on the air Tuesday morning, they lost $200,000 when the government shut them down. There is simply no excuse for a continued lockdown. There should be ZERO limits on gatherings both indoors and out. The so-called curve flattened the same in lockdown and no lockdown areas.

According to Dr. Marty Makary from Johns Hopkins, herd immunity is here based on more than 200 million Americans having already contracted coronavirus and 55% of us starting off with natural immunity. The problem in NJ is that there are still too many people scared of what is essentially a cold virus and that is allowing politicians to drive reckless and deadly policies. We have nearly irrefutable proof that masks are useless at best and dangerous at worst, yet the masking orders persist even outdoors.

All of this leads to a crushing situation for businesses and families struggling to get back to normal. Remember this, people will go back to normal, and if they are stopped from doing it here, they'll take their business, tax dollars and futures to free states.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Spadea. Any opinions expressed are Bill's own. Bill Spadea is on the air weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m., talkin’ Jersey, taking your calls at 1-800-283-1015.

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