By Rich Bockmann
Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plan to build a convention center at Aqueduct Racetrack may have fallen apart, but a southeast Queens entrepreneur has a money-making plan to build a stadium in its place.
He may just have to wait until he graduates from high school before bringing it to fruition.
“There are 11 aspects which contribute to the wealth of the company and the stadium,” Jason Fox, an eighth-grader at the Eagle Academy for Young Men in St. Albans, said as he presented his plan for a basketball stadium at last week’s Community Board 12 meeting.
Fox was given the assignment as a school project to research the operations of basketball stadiums around the country — their concessions and endorsement deals, parking revenues, constructions costs, etc. — and come up with a competitive proposal of his own.
Eagle Academy Dean Steven Carthan said he assigned the project after Fox was brought into his office for acting up in school.
“He’s very smart, but he made the wrong choice. I asked him what he wanted to do when he grows up and he said he wanted to be an entrepreneur,” he explained. “I was very impressed [with the final proposal]. I was like, ‘Wow.’ That’s what these young men need nowadays, for someone to say, ‘Yo, I believe in you.’”
Fox calculated the income for each of the stadium’s 33 events — considering reserved seating for public schools, community centers and, of course, community boards — and came up with a $2.6 billion profit each year, plus jobs for the surrounding communities.
Community activist Kevin Livingston, whose “100 Suits for 100 Men” campaign provides business attire for reformed gang members trying to get a leg up, heard about Fox’s hard work on his assignment and invited him to present it at the community board.
Livingston gave Fox a certificate recognizing his business achievement.
“Your community supports you. Dream big,” Livingston said as he handed Fox a certificate recognizing his business achievement, a gift certificate for a dinner for two, the “NBA 2K12” video game for the Xbox and a newly opened bank account with some start-up cash for any future ventures.
“And being that you’re a businessman, you’re going to need something to wear,” he said as he presented the young man with a dapper-looking three-piece suit.
Fox said he was honored to be invited to the meeting and excited by the supportive reaction he received for all his hard work, adding that if the choice were up to him, he would like to see the Dallas Mavericks basketball team playing in Queens.
Reach reporter Rich Bockmann by e-mail at rbockmann@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4574.
