“The infrastructure at the Belmont Park Train Station is a salient problem which needs to be addressed immediately,” Solages said in the letter. “The ESDC must take into consideration the impact on public safety and increased traffic in the community. If there is ever to be any meaningful redevelopment of that area, then we need to first improve Belmont Park’s crumbling infrastructure.”

New York Racing Association Vice President of Facilities and Racing Surfaces Glen Kozak said that as the following Tuesday, there was no evidence of falling concrete from the bridge.

An ESD spokesperson declined to comment.

Elmont Fire Department recounts preparation, its role in day’s events

A spokeswoman for the Elmont Fire Department told the Herald that there were 31 ambulance requests handled at the EFD’s Engine 2 firehouse — located on Plainfield Avenue outside Belmont entrance Gate 7 — on June 7, which was rounded out by an auto accident and car fire that members responded to.

A fire department response plan for the day has been in effect for years and is altered and tweaked annually as deemed necessary by the chief of department. The command post and staging area for the day is typically established at the Engine 2 firehouse.

Each year, from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. on the day of the Stakes, the seven Elmont firehouses go on a ‘standby,’ with manpower staying in the firehouses for the duration of the event. All companies have pre-planned various orders and staging areas based on alarm types that are received. Elmont Engine Companies 1 and 2, along with the department’s two ambulance units, are dedicated for racetrack response only, and a separate mutual-aid plan is developed for any large-scale incident that may occur outside of the race track.

A mutual aid plan for the racetrack is developed with incoming hazmat and hazmat decon units from the Franklin Square, Levittown and Wantagh fire departments. Additional ambulance units from Mineola Volunteer Ambulance Squad, Baldwin, Bellmore, Wantagh, Franklin Square and South Farmingdale Fire Departments also stage at Engine 2 Firehouse.