Horse Racing: Aqueduct Racetrack
Good times continue to roll at Aqueduct
January, 6, 2012
Jan 6
11:16
AM ET
By Bob Ehalt | ESPNNewYork.com
If you happen to have a picture of Aqueduct Racetrack from around 2009, put it in a safe place.
It’s destined to become a collector’s item.
Those not so long ago days of Aqueduct masquerading as a ghost town are rapidly moving into the past, with the combination of New York City Off-Track Betting’s demise and the opening of the Resorts World Casino New York City making the Ozone Park track a red-hot destination.
And, don’t look now, but there’s more company on the way as NY Governor Andrew Cuomo wants to add a huge convention center to the complex.
Amazing, isn’t it, how the bells, whistles and buzzers of a slot machine can bring a business back from the dead as Aqueduct is suddenly as crowded as Saratoga.
Which can create a problem, that we’ll call the Yogi Berra Syndrome.
Decades ago, Berra came up with a funny yet wise remark when he uttered, “Nobody goes to that place anymore, it’s too crowded.”
There is some logic to that as the New York Racing Association, after needing little more than a skeleton staff at Aqueduct -- and Belmont for that matter -- suddenly has a small army of people to service. A visit to the Big A on New Year’s Day found long lines trying to get into the track’s parking lot and long lines at the betting windows.
In an era when it’s actually more efficient to wager online from home, the last thing NYRA needs is a deterrent to attend and bet on the races.
With a walkway between the track and casino now open and streams of people using it, a good resolution for NYRA in 2012 would be to spend some of its new-found gold from the casino on staff and equipment at the Big A to keep its customers happy.
Judging by the crowds at the casino and the construction plans being voiced by Gov. Cuomo, those days of spending a quiet day of solitude at the Big A are long gone.
It’s destined to become a collector’s item.
Those not so long ago days of Aqueduct masquerading as a ghost town are rapidly moving into the past, with the combination of New York City Off-Track Betting’s demise and the opening of the Resorts World Casino New York City making the Ozone Park track a red-hot destination.
And, don’t look now, but there’s more company on the way as NY Governor Andrew Cuomo wants to add a huge convention center to the complex.
Amazing, isn’t it, how the bells, whistles and buzzers of a slot machine can bring a business back from the dead as Aqueduct is suddenly as crowded as Saratoga.
Which can create a problem, that we’ll call the Yogi Berra Syndrome.
Decades ago, Berra came up with a funny yet wise remark when he uttered, “Nobody goes to that place anymore, it’s too crowded.”
There is some logic to that as the New York Racing Association, after needing little more than a skeleton staff at Aqueduct -- and Belmont for that matter -- suddenly has a small army of people to service. A visit to the Big A on New Year’s Day found long lines trying to get into the track’s parking lot and long lines at the betting windows.
In an era when it’s actually more efficient to wager online from home, the last thing NYRA needs is a deterrent to attend and bet on the races.
With a walkway between the track and casino now open and streams of people using it, a good resolution for NYRA in 2012 would be to spend some of its new-found gold from the casino on staff and equipment at the Big A to keep its customers happy.
Judging by the crowds at the casino and the construction plans being voiced by Gov. Cuomo, those days of spending a quiet day of solitude at the Big A are long gone.
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ABOUT THIS BLOG
Bob Ehalt
Bob Ehalt, who grew up a few furlongs from Belmont Park, has followed horse racing as either a fan, turf writer or owner since 1971. He has won three national Associated Press Sports Editors awards for his coverage of the sport and was the recipient of the 2009 Breeders' Cup media award for outstanding social media.
Paul Moran
Paul Moran is a two-time winner of the Media Eclipse Award, and has received various honors from the National Association of Newspaper Editors, Society of Silurians, Long Island Press Club and Long Island Veterinary Medical Association. He also has been given the Red Smith Award for his coverage of the Kentucky Derby.