Belmont racing season opens with questions in Elmont

The racing season opened at Belmont Park last Friday with a smattering of race fans — and many lingering questions about the racetrack’s future.

As fewer and fewer fans come through the front gates each year, many in the area wonder what will become of racing at Belmont if the trend continues. With each passing racing season, residents and race fans appear more desperate for the state to improve on the facility, saying that the combination of transportation challenges and expensive amenities make it less rewarding to come to the track.

“How much is a race fan supposed to bear?” asked one Belmont attendee, stepping into an elevator with a racing form in hand.

Elmont residents have been clamoring for years for development at Belmont Park, with many organizations — including the Elmont East End Civic Association and the Coalition for Sustainable Development — hoping that a combination racetrack and casino would be part of the plan. Local leaders have mentioned in the past their goal of adding a shopping center at the current site of Belmont’s south parking lot. As well, many were hoping that a revamped Hempstead Turnpike — a project currently under way — could lead to the introduction of a casino at the track. A “racino” would provide a huge influx of cash and jobs for the community that could fund a huge economic turnaround.

Now, however, it looks like even that possibility is slipping away, with an announcement last week that will likely have a huge impact on the plans for Belmont. It was revealed last Tuesday that Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano has been in talks with the Shinnecock tribe of Suffolk County about the possibility of bringing a casino to Garden City (see story, page 7), a move that would all but eliminate the possibility of developing a racino at Belmont Park in the near future.

While the sound of rolling dice and tumbling chips might be music to the ears of most Long Islanders, especially those hoping for a new development at the site of the erstwhile Lighthouse project, many in Elmont would lament the loss of millions of dollars in potential revenue.

At the track last Friday afternoon, county leaders, including Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray, kept their opinions to themselves. Not so Elmont civic leader Pat Nicolosi, who said he thought a casino anywhere but Belmont Park was a waste of existing infrastructure.

“It’s sad because nothing’s going on,” Nicolosi said. “The state is doing absolutely nothing. This is an absolutely gorgeous track, but it needs the [video lottery terminals], it needs the gambling, it needs the Shinnecock, it needs all those things. This state is losing jobs, this state is losing money, because other states that surround us are expanding, and we don’t even talk about it anymore ... [Mangano] is proposing using the land in East Meadow, the Coliseum. No. It needs to be put right here in Elmont. This is the place where people need to come.”

Murray said she recognized just how important Belmont Park is to Elmont and to the Town of Hempstead, and lamented something Nicolosi pointed out — that dwindling attendance and lower gate receipts are making it difficult on everyone in the communities surrounding Belmont.

“Opening day at Belmont Park is really important to bring in all sorts of community leaders, because this really is the jewel in the crown,” Murray said. “It’s such a beautiful, unique piece of property. Very few counties can boast this beautiful piece of property. I’d certainly love to see the attendance rates go up astronomically here at Belmont Park, it’s such a gorgeous place.”

Aside from a crowded plaza at track level, relatively few fans — just over 5,000 — came out for the first day of racing on what turned out to be a gorgeous afternoon.

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