Proximity to NYC

[Ed]

I just did my first appleseed while visiting Florida and I loved it. Problem: I live on Long Island (essentially, NYC) and from what I see all the shoots are like 4 hours away either upstate or in PA. Do shoots ever take place closer to NYC? I saw that a few years ago there was one on Long Island but not since.

[DEH]

The Connecticut and Massachusetts events are much closer to long Island

[Ed]

Oh amazing. The one is Lebanon CT is "just" 2.5 hours away.

Do you think that's as good as it will ever get or is there a chance of another one on Long Island sometime?

[ScubaSteve]

Well you are always welcome down here in Fl.

That said look around for a range up there. When you attend one of those events in another state ask those guys if they would like to run one in your area.  I cant speak for the guys up in the great white north but most of us love to start new ranges in new areas. I bet they would be interested, and they would love some help finding a range.

 

Oh amazing. The one is Lebanon CT is "just" 2.5 hours away.

Do you think that's as good as it will ever get or is there a chance of another one on Long Island sometime?

[Ed]

Honestly I doubt there's anything unexplored there. There are so few ranges in downstate NY that I suspect appleseed folks who would potentially do an event down here are already familiar with all of them. I bet it's some insurance nonsense that makes it impossible.

[LadyRimfire]

Hi Ed! I live in Saratoga and we are trying to build Appleseed back up in NYS. We have faced some challenges but I hope someday we will be able to have multiple events a year all over the state.

Perhaps someday we will be able to hold events down by the city, but that probably won't happen for a very long time if it ever does.You are always welcome to come see us upstate if you're willing to make the drive. It's definately a great excuse to go on a camping trip for a long weekend in the Adirondacks! The Clintonville range is absolutely gorgeous!:) You can look at AARs on the forum to check it out.

Otherwise, I would do like what DEH said and look to CT and Mass. If you looking for less of a drive.

 

[LadyRimfire]

I wanted to add that I though Long Island usually had shoots and fou d this.

https://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=67347.msg417788#msg417788

I would reach out to VietVet as he would be the guy to answer questions about events on Long Island.

[Ed]

Thank you! Yes Clintonville sounds amazing for some day I have 3 little kids so for the moment that kind of trip is not practical but in a few years might be perfect.

Alas I am unable to access that topic you linked to, nor to see/contact VietVet. "You are not allowed to access this section". Perhaps my account is restricted because I am new?

[T. WOLF]

Hi Ed, and team - VietVet is a retired volunteer and was our Shoot Boss down on Long Island, hence the lack of events down there since 2023.  At the time he was coordinating 1-day Appleseeds at Westhampton Beach.  There are some other logistical challenges related to the ranges downstate as you mentioned, but we'd like to be able to resume those events at some point in the future. In 2026 I am hoping we can work our way down into the hudson valley and at least split the difference in travel time between NYC metropolitan area and upstate

[Ed]

Got it! Is there anything that one could do to facilitate this? Especially I would love to see a comeback to long Island - anything a regular person can do to make that more realistic?

[T. WOLF]

Got it! Is there anything that one could do to facilitate this? Especially I would love to see a comeback to long Island - anything a regular person can do to make that more realistic?

Thanks for offering, Ed. Scouting for potential host ranges that are friendly and receptive to Appleseed's mission would be the easiest effort. From my perspective we're looking for three qualities that may be rare to find in the NY metropolitan area:

1) A range that doesn't charge a rental fee.
2) A range that is willing to dedicate two full days of exclusive use to Project Appleseed.
3) A range that will remove obstacles which would prevent us from shooting in Standing, Seated and Prone positions.

Regarding item #1 - Appleseed is a 501c.3 non-profit organization, so we prefer to work with ranges/clubs that understand our mission and view us as a mutually beneficial partnership, rather than just another opportunity to rent out their facilities. I've found this concept to be a disconnect with a few of the ranges that have been proposed in the metro area, and considering our limited resources as a volunteer org, it's hard to give those ranges preferential treatment over the numerous ranges upstate who are passionate about our mission and are eager to open their doors to Appleseed free-of-charge.

Regarding item #2 - we are not opposed to 1-day Appleseed events, those can be valuable. But considering the resources that currently have to be brought in from out-of-state to support events in NY, it becomes harder to justify those expenses and sacrifices for a single day. We don't need to shut down an entire facility for the weekend, but we would be asking for exclusive use of a 25m range that could accommodate a minimum of 12 shooting positions for two full days.

Unfortunately we lost a dedicated shoot boss on Long Island to retirement - he was a great dude who very much deserved to retire, but that loss made it all the more challenging to coordinate shoots on the island.  We did/do have a dedicated crew of volunteers who were supporting his shoots on Long Island and it would be great to get them engaged in this effort. There are a few other logistical/planning challenges related to running shoots across NYC lines, but if we were to find a really good host range who was excited about bringing in Project Appleseed for a 2-day event, I believe we could make that event happen.

I'm happy to chat further with you about the talking points for potential host ranges, especially if you have some ranges in mind already. I could also ship you some Appleseed tri-folds, chamber flags, and my business cards to leave behind at the ranges you frequent.  Feel free to reach out to me at NY@appleseedinfo.org if that sounds worth your time/effort.

Thanks for your passion and support for Appleseed, and sorry we don't have an immediate solution on Long Island - the island has never left our radar and we're hopeful to come back there.

In Liberty,
Travis Wolf

[Charles McKinley]

Palmerston is probably your closest PA location.

[Ed]

Travis - wow! That is amazingly useful context! Really helps understand the parameters and what were "up against" logistically.

Are you in touch with the retired shoot boss or any of the volunteers? There are only a few ranges here so I bet they already have a ton of context on which ones might be more (or less) receptive. Personally I only shoot at the county owned range which is the main one here, I'll ask about it but I bet since it's a government facility the manager can't just decide to shut it down for the weekend this way. But I'll ask.

But like I said most interesting would be to know if the retired/existing volunteers have already cultivated any relationships with ranges that could use a little followup or something like that. Would you be able to find out that context, I can try to take it from there.

[T. WOLF]

Yeah I've had extensive conversations with the retired shoot boss about ranges in the area - my understanding was that Westhampton wasn't able to accommodate us for two days, and ditto for the government ranges in the area. But the Long Island volunteers are all members of the forum here and may chime in with some more recent intel