Fast Family

Brian Bingay
Vice President, Corporate Dining Services
JPMorgan Chase
Jersey City, N.J.

Hometown: Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.

Education: Associates in Culinary Management and B.S. in Foodservice Management from Johnson & Wales University, Providence, R.I.

Married. Wife, Eileen, and three kids Brian Jr., 13, Jason, 10, and Alicia, 6, live in Mohegan Lake, N.Y.

Brian Bingay has a need for speed. As vice president for JPMorgan Chase Corporate Dining Services, he travels all over the country overseeing dining, office coffee, water and vending in the New York area, Florida and other locations. But outside of foodservice, Bingay says his true passion is his family. His wife, who he calls his soul mate, and his three kids all enjoy riding ATVs. Bingay talks about why riding ATVs with his family means so much to him. 

“I have been riding all kinds of bikes since I was five years old, anything from mini bikes to dirt bikes to street bikes, quads and a dune buggy, which I recently sold. I currently have a Kawasaki Ninja and a Yamaha V-Star full dress cruiser, which are both street bikes. My friends and I try to take a ‘guys week’ every year where we’ll ride our motorcycles to places like Daytona Beach, Myrtle Beach, and soon, Sturgis, SD.

We bought my son, Brian Jr., an ATV when he was five, and then Jason and Alicia learned on that one until we bought everyone their own ATV to fit their size. Currently, Brian Jr. has a 300cc ATV, Jason has a 150cc ATV and Alicia has a 110cc pink camouflage ATV, and my wife and I each have an ATV of our own. The kids always ride under our supervision with all the proper gear. Thanks to modern technology, I have the ability to shut off all of their ignitions electronically by remote if things get out of hand. I’ve never had to use the switch on the boys, but my daughter has no fear. We ride like ducks in a row, so sometimes she’ll get out of line and try and race with the big kids, so I’ll kill her engine to calm her down. Which, of course, makes her put her hands on her hips and say, ‘Dad! I’m racing.’

We try to get away every weekend to our family farm upstate in Cobleskill, N.Y., but it depends on the kids’ sports schedules, Scouts, etc. The farm has more than 130 acres and also has a two-acre bass pond. One of the local farmers grows soy and alfalfa for his cattle on 500 acres of land that borders ours, so he lets us ride on his land to help him knock down the brush. We have a group of friends with the same hobbies and toys as us, and during Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends we can have as many as 50 people camping and riding at the property. It’s great because there are streams and riverbeds, and you end up leaving covered in mud. You cannot wash the mud from up there off your clothes. Whatever you wear while you’re riding, you’ll have to be ready to throw out.

We purchased a 27-foot trailer to haul all our toys with us when we travel. Once we pull out all the toys from the trailer, it is a full-blown camper with all the amenities of home. We love to camp and cook out and enjoy all that nature has to offer. We’ve been to Montauk, Lake George and we plan to go out west soon to the Grand Canyon.

I love to ride with the family because it is close, fun family time with no TV and other modern technologies to get in the way. Just fun family time. I’m trying to take advantage of the time we spend together now before the kids grow up and don’t want to spend as much time with their old man.”