Family Fun Factory Owner Frustrated Doors Remain Closed When Similar Businesses Are Open

Why does the Family Fun Factory in New Hartford have to remain closed when similar businesses are open? That's the question the owner has for local and state officials but no one is answering.

Joe Belmonte spent months building a new Family Fun Factory in the New Hartford Shopping Center. Plans were to open in the Spring but with COVID-19, those plans were put on hold. "We're still waiting," said Belmonte. "We have seen so many types of business open to some degree and we are still told we can not open."

Belmonte was told when gyms opened they could too. "When that came we were told we couldn't open because we are indoor amusement. So we sit and wait."

When bowling alleys open? "Nope. We are classed as something different."

Similar types of businesses have started to open in central New York but the doors to the Family Fun Factory remain closed. "We had the idea of doing a remote learning drop off to answer the concerns of so many local parents, along with private birthday parties on the weekends. But we were served papers that inform us to not conduct any form of business under executive state order."

Belmonte has been calling local officials to find out when he can re-open if everyone else is. "If you can go bowling how can you not come to our facility? If you can go to an indoor haunted house how can you not come to our facility?"

The Family Fun Factory is still closed but just down the Thruway in Syracuse, you can take your kids and family for a compete indoor day of fun. "As soon as we arrived at mall in Syracuse we saw everything we could imagine."

Indoor playgrounds at Billy Bees.

Virtual reality rides, laser tag and bumper cars at Apex were open for business.

You can even Build a Bear.

Wonder works and many other indoor amusement attractions were open and busy.

Not only were amusement rides open, guidelines weren't being followed properly. "The attendant didn’t even wear his mask in a correct manner."

"It was very frustrating to have a 32,000 square foot facility back home that keeps getting denied the ability to open while just up the road a whole mall of amusement was alive and well," said Belmonte.

How can Belmonte be denied the right to open when others are operating daily and have been for weeks? "We are way passed disgusted with this situation. I know we are upon new times with many new issues of public safety and health but all folks have to do is take a ride to a near by location and enjoy the day as we did. We can not understand it but we hope to get some answers."

For now, Belmonte continues to sit and wait for the day he can finally open the doors and see kids enjoy all the Family Fun Factory has to offer.