Belmont Park In Danger Of Closure?

[Thomas Roulston]

According to a report on WPIX-TV last week, Belmont Park is on a short list of sites being considered for a permanent new stadium for the NHL's New York Islanders, as neither the Barclays Center nor the just-reopened Nassau Coliseum conform to NHL "standards."

At least Aqueduct's racing surfaces would have to be redesigned if this happens. Since Parx has no separate winter dirt track, why does Aqueduct need one? Then the Inner Dirt Track can revert to a turf course - and the permanent rail that currently separates the Inner Dirt Track from the existing turf course can be dismantled, leading to an Arlington/Gulfstream/Laurel type scenario. The Saratoga meet would likely be lengthened as well.

[sour grapes]

belmont will not close,the arena will be built on the south side of hempstead tpke if approved,this has been debated over the past year and persinally would like to see the islanders back on the island.

[WoxFan]

When i google for belmont arena, i find articles that say the new arena would be near belmont park, not bulldozing belmont park. Aqueduct would probably be first to go to put in more slots.

[Thomas Roulston]

But what would happen to winter racing in New York if Aqueduct is closed?

[sour grapes]

if aqueduct closed the belmont training track would be where winter racing would take place,closing the big a is a long way off and building a small facility for bettors would not take long to build,rest assured belmont is not closing down.

[Thomas Roulston]

Using the Belmont training track to conduct winter racing would be a nightmare. And is the grandstand or even the clubhouse heated?

[jk3521]

Originally Posted by Thomas Roulston

Using the Belmont training track to conduct winter racing would be a nightmare. And is the grandstand or even the clubhouse heated?

If it comes to pass, at least a part of the Belmont grandstand area could be enclosed. The coldest I've ever been at a race track was a day with temperatures in the fifties at Belmont and the wind whistling through.

[Secondbest]

Belmont in the winter!!!. Break out the Gortex.

[Hambletonian]

Both the Belmont and Aqueduct properties are more valuable for non racing activities...and if it weren't for the massive cost of tearing down the Belmont grandstand there would probably be trial balloons being floated all the time. The greatest virtue of Belmont Park to the community is as open space, and not an entertainment center.

Considering low on track attendance, why do you need a track in the midst of a population center anyway?

Close both of them and construct an appropriately sized facility to suit the crowds of today somewhere where land is less valuable.

[PaceAdvantage]

Originally Posted by Hambletonian

Both the Belmont and Aqueduct properties are more valuable for non racing activities...and if it weren't for the massive cost of tearing down the Belmont grandstand there would probably be trial balloons being floated all the time. The greatest virtue of Belmont Park to the community is as open space, and not an entertainment center.

Considering low on track attendance, why do you need a track in the midst of a population center anyway?

Close both of them and construct an appropriately sized facility to suit the crowds of today somewhere where land is less valuable.

Belmont Park will never be torn town, not in my lifetime anyway.

Low on track attendance? You could say that for every track in the country with a few choice boutique-meet exceptions.

What are you going to do? Tear down Aqueduct and Belmont and leave only Saratoga to run in the Summer? Or should we tear that down too...yeah, that will go over well with all the jobs and $$$$ associated with the Thoroughbred industry in NY.

Your post = fake news.

[SuperPickle]

Originally Posted by PaceAdvantage

Belmont Park will never be torn town, not in my lifetime anyway.

Low on track attendance? You could say that for every track in the country with a few choice boutique-meet exceptions.

What are you going to do? Tear down Aqueduct and Belmont and leave only Saratoga to run in the Summer? Or should we tear that down too...yeah, that will go over well with all the jobs and $$$$ associated with the Thoroughbred industry in NY.

Your post = fake news.

PA, He's not wrong. Actually the idea of closing Belmont and keeping Aqueduct is gaining momentum in political circles. Here's the background...

Everyone has know for 20-30 years that retaining two tracks 20 miles apart in suburban NYC is unrealistic. Everyone has always assumed Aqueduct would close because it's less attractive to Horseman and more attractive to development because it's closer to NYC.

I generally have few good things to saw about horsemen groups but the horsemen know they can't have two tracks and actually have a plan. Their plan is and always has been to use giving Aqueduct in exchange for a fully renovated Belmont.

Now these are two things have changed that affect Belmont...

1. The horsemen have under estimated the amount of work Belmont needs. It's now in the same boat as Pimlico. It's too expensive to renovate. It needs to be torn down and re-built. So sooner or later Belmont does need to be torn down whether you rebuild it or not. The horsemen now want to do a Meadowlands deal where the existing grandstand is torn down and a new, smaller one is built somewhere else. I don't know Belmont well enough but I believe it would be on the Hempstead Higheay side????

2. The horsemen assumed that once the casino went in at Aqueduct it would make it more attractive for redevelopment giving them some leverage to get the deal they want at Belmont. Here's where things got off the track. The Aqueduct casino is the most profitable casino in the country. It's a massive gravy train. Everyone getting that gravy realized that re-development Aqueduct would put NYC's largest construction project surrounding their gravy train. So in short there's a real concern that construction at Aqueduct would impact casino revenue and we can't have that happen.

So now you have a growing concept among politicians and political appointees that rather than mess with Aqueduct let's take Belmont and give the horsemen Aqueduct since the casino is already there and they can figure it out because we don't give a shit about horse racing. I know this idea is stupid to us but keep in mind politicians understand less than zero about horse racing.

So to sum it up yes there's a real scenario Belmont goes away and if you see that as fake news you're vastly underestimating the stupidity of NY politicians.

[RunForTheRoses]

Belmont is a lot of wasted real estate. They don't have to get rid of the track but creative ideas with the premises would be nice. Probably only on Belmont Day is a lot of that space used.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by sour grapes

belmont will not close,the arena will be built on the south side of hempstead tpke if approved,this has been debated over the past year and persinally would like to see the islanders back on the island.

Since when is Brooklyn not located on Long Island.

Seriously, they made a mistake moving to the Barclays Center, which is a terrible arena for hockey. It is designed to fit snugly around a basketball court and is full of obstructed views for hockey. Phoenix had the same problem and eventually had to build a new arena for the Coyotes.

And yeah, the Belmont Park site, which is literally right down the road from the old Nassau Coliseum, is a pretty good spot to put up a new arena for the Islanders. (On the other hand, it doesn't make a lot of economic sense as the Coliseum has been renovated for concerts and the Islanders would have trouble leasing out the arena when they aren't playing. Would have made more sense to just renovate the Nassau Coliseum for both hockey and concerts.)

There is an interesting long-term issue about Belmont-Aqueduct. There's probably more than a negligible amount of money to be saved by NYRA by operating one plant instead of two. But I am skeptical that the hockey arena plan has anything to do with that.

[sour grapes]

brooklyn is a borough in nyc,suffolk and nassau counties make up long island.
fact is the islanders were getting more people to go to nassau coliseum than are going to brooklyn.the city is ranger country,beleive me the biigest complaint of islander fans is the commute of 2 hours each way to get to barclays while if you live in nassau or suffolk at most its a 25 minute drive.

[Thomas Roulston]

Originally Posted by jk3521

If it comes to pass, at least a part of the Belmont grandstand area could be enclosed. The coldest I've ever been at a race track was a day with temperatures in the fifties at Belmont and the wind whistling through.

The wind chill must have been in the 20s for the Breeders' Cup in 1990 - which I attended.

And if Belmont Park ever was torn down, the Belmont Stakes would likely be shortened to 1 3/8 miles - the distance it was when Man o'War won it, which would sure warm the heart of D. Wayne Lukas. Some sort of chute would be built to make the run down the stretch the first time more straight.