The NFL lockout trudges onward, seemingly far away from the capital of New York State. But summer in Albany means Giants training camp, and the still-not-dead labor battle could wreak havoc with some upstate businesses while also souring some sweet traditions.
“It trickles down so far, I don’t think people realize how far it trickles down,” said Mike “Ardi” Arduini.
As owner of Across the Street Pub on Western Avenue in Albany, Arduini would appear to be far enough away from the NFL’s financial tentacles that the ongoing lockout is merely a distraction as a fan and not a potential dagger to his livelihood. But his late July and August cash-flow has been greatly augmented by the presence of New York Giants training camp, held barely an Eli Manning completion away, literally across the street at the University at Albany.
Further lockout negotiating delays could implement a shortened version of camp, a prospect that David Quadrini says “brings me to tears every time I read anything” about the lockout. Quadrini, owner and manager of the Days Inn, also on Western Avenue within walking distance of campus, believes both sides in this NFL labor battle are being “selfish” when it comes to considering the unseen collateral damage.
“It’s a real bonus us having [the Giants] here, a real good experience, and I don’t want to lose them,” Albany mayor Jerry Jennings told The Post. “It impacts so many. We can’t afford with the way the economy is going now not to have a fully productive NFL season. It would hurt a lot of people.”
News filtering upstate hinting at progress in the struggle to formulate a new Collective Bargaining Agreement is heartening, but also met with skepticism. If there is no agreement soon, the threat grows stronger that the Giants never make it up north and instead hold a mini-training camp at their Timex Performance Center facility. The University at Albany — where the Giants have held training camp since 1996 — has not yet issued a deadline for needing to know when or if the Giants are returning.
This summer’s training camp, if there is no lockout-related delay, likely will run from July 30 to Aug. 21.
“We’re planning on them being here,” said Brian DePasquale, the university’s associate athletic director for communications. “We’re doing everything we usually do to this point. If we go into early July and it looks like there’s no movement, we’re going to have to talk with the Giants to figure out what their feelings are.
“If the lockout pushes back the NFL calendar, the Giants will not be allowed to overstay their University at Albany welcome. They must be out of the Freedom Quad dorms and off campus no later than Aug. 24, as students will arrive for the fall semester by the weekend of
Aug. 27-28.
The Giants have not trained anywhere longer than the 15 years they have been in Albany, enough time for a bond to develop. The camp has averaged more than 33,000 fans per year — a record 46,960 attended in 2009 — and one of the practice areas is called “Mara-Tisch Field” in honor of the Giants’ former co-owners.
All those people flocking to Albany need to eat and sleep. Across the Street Pub has been a popular training camp hangout for lunch, dinner and late-night snacks, not only with fans. Giants team officials, scouts, video and media personnel all stop in.”
Years ago, I can remember Mr. [Wellington] Mara coming in and sitting at the bar with us with his sons,” Arduini recalled. “Such a gentleman.” On a rainy summer night in 2008, Pat Hanlon — the Giants’ vice president of communications — brought the Lombardi Trophy to Across the Street Pub and the line of fans anxious for a look snaked out the door and around the building.
“I guarantee you it would be a 10- to 15-percent decline we would have this year because of them not being here, and that’s a significant amount of money,” Arduini said. “It affects not just me as an owner. It affects my waitresses here who depend on the tips and even my vendors here who I buy things from, I won’t be buying things if I don’t need the stuff.
“I wish they start thinking a little more outside the little circle of theirs, start thinking about the people that actually pay for those things, the fans.”
The Days Inn near campus has 75 rooms,
and Giants training camp helps fill the hotel.”Generally we’re busy, but it makes us busier,” Quadrini said. “Instead of being 75-percent occupied, we’re 100-percent occupied. I bet we get 15 rooms a night [because of Giants camp]. That’s going to be a big loss because you can’t make that up.”
Mayor Jennings, a longtime Giants fan, every summer finds time to walk the sidelines at training camp practices.
“It’s a busy time up here anyway with Saratoga [Race Course] and the vacation season, but this really adds a nice mix for a lot of people,” Jennings said. “People come from all over for that camp. It’s not just New York City or Jersey. It’s everywhere, they want to experience it.”
paul.schwartz@nypost.com