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If we are going to have racing in NY, which I think all of us want, getting rid of AQU and updating Belmont makes sense. It makes no sense to have a large (and getting older) facility like the current Belmont. It has to cost a LOT to maintain it and most of it is not even in use. The real question is how large the new Belmont grandstand should be. Day to day, you don't need much of a facility. But you do need a decent sized facility for Belmont Stakes day, Breeder's Cup and maybe a couple of other big days. I'm not sure how they should have balanced that.
The main point is that if you want NY racing long term, you have to fix Belmont PERIOD.
If you think racing should go away and the money used for other purposes or if you think the facility they are building is still too large and costly, those are other issues.
I certainly think the attendance projections helping justify the money are pretty silly. But something had to be done to keep racing in NY.
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