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After 16 seasons in Albany, the Giants will set up training camp at their team headquarters in 2013.

(Photo by Tim Farrell/The Star-Ledger)

Left out of the postseason, the Giants must look ahead to the 2013 season. And they’ve decided where they’ll start it: Here in New Jersey.

After 16 years of heading north to the University at Albany, the Giants decided this week they’ll stay at team headquarters in East Rutherford for training camp this summer.

The Giants’ run at Albany began in 1996, interrupted only by the lockout in 2011, when they held camp at their new Timex Performance Center for the first time. They won Super Bowl XLVI that season. This could be the beginning of a new pattern for the Giants, though they did not say this was a permanent move.

“We are fortunate to have a facility in the Timex Performance Center that allows us to hold training camp here,” co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch said in a statement released by the team. “We will evaluate our training camp situation on an ongoing basis and certainly would not rule out a return to Albany in the future if it makes sense for both parties.”

University at Albany athletic director Lee McElroy added that if the Giants decided in the future to camp out of town, the school “would be interested in once again serving as their home away from home.”

The Albany community, slightly more than a two-hour drive from East Rutherford, embraced the Giants and their traveling fans. Going away for training camp also encourages team bonding, but there were limitations at Albany.

Notably, the university has not had a usable indoor practice facility, requiring the Giants to hold walk-throughs in the gymnasium when it rains. Last summer, a crop of complaints about sore backs due to the small dorm room beds also surfaced.

Now, the community around the Giants’ headquarters could stand to reap an economic benefit from out-of-town fans who make use of hotels and restaurants.

Francisco Quesada, a waiter at Segovia Restaurant in nearby Moonachie, recalled the boost when the Giants held training camp at home in 2011.



"You can see it in August," Quesada said. "We have some fans that after the training they stop by, and it's good. It's good for the community and good for business."

Kenny Gebhardt, owner of Park & Orchard Restaurant in East Rutherford, isn't banking on an uptick in business but is happy the Giants are staying home for camp.



"I don't think it's going to add much to my business, but I'll take it if it comes," Gebhardt said. "We do some extra business when the Giants are playing, but I guess for the training camp people will be down there to watch them. I hope they come so we can feed them."

Star-Ledger staff writer Stacy Jones contributed to this report.

Jenny Vrentas: jvrentas@starledger.com; twitter.com/JennyVrentas