The future of horse racing at Aqueduct Racetrack — the South Ozone Park mainstay that opened its doors in 1894 — could come down to whether New York state lawmakers will make taxpayers put up nearly half a billion dollars to renovate its more-famous neighbor 8 miles to the east.
As part of her $227 billion state budget proposal, Gov. Kathy Hochul wants to lend the New York Racing Association $455 million to bulldoze and redevelop the grandstand and clubhouse at Belmont Park, the historic Long Island racetrack that hosts the third leg of the famed Triple Crown.
The loan, however, comes with strings attached: In exchange, the racing association — the not-for-profit organization that operates both Belmont and Aqueduct, which are on state land — would have to relinquish its lease on the aging Aqueduct facility after Belmont is rebuilt.
Such a move would put an end to horse racing at Aqueduct and allow the facility to be knocked down, with its roughly 120 days of racing moved to the new Belmont. But it would also free up more than 100 acres of valuable land directly next to JFK International Airport, which the state would then control and have the ability to sell or lease for perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars.
Critics of the plan question why the state should front a loan for the horse-racing industry, whose popularity has long been on the decline. But Hochul, a Democrat, has pitched the plan as a needed investment in Belmont Park, whose aging racing facilities — last rebuilt in the 1960s — butt up directly against the brand new, $1 billion UBS Arena in the Nassau County hamlet of Elmont.
“There will be an opportunity to make this a real tourism opportunity for attracting more people to come to our state and stay and start visiting the other attractions,” Hochul said on March 1. “So I don't see the downside of going forth with a plan that has tremendous upside in contrast to the downside that occurs when you abandon Belmont.”
Horse race headwinds
The plan is facing significant headwinds from some corners in Albany — from lawmakers who oppose state subsidies for the industry; animal-rights advocates who say the sport is cruel and inhumane; and budget watchers who question whether there will be a significant return on the investment.
The battle has drawn interest from some of the same lawmakers and organizations that fought for years to win labor protections for carriage horses in New York City, some of whom rallied against the plan at the state Capitol on Wednesday.
“Why are we giving away money — a loan that we will never see paid back — to prop up an industry where horses die on the track all the time, where workers do not get properly paid and are not properly treated,” said Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal (D-Manhattan). “Why are we doing that?”
Edita Birnkrant, executive director of New Yorkers for Clean, Livable and Safe Streets, likened the proposal to Hochul’s successful 2022 push to put $600 million in state funding toward a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills — which, unlike the Belmont proposal, was not a loan.
“Just look at the fiasco around the Buffalo Bills — millions that went to a billionaire who owns the Buffalo Bills stadium,” she said at the Capitol on Wednesday. “But at least people attend football games. No one is going to these races.”
Under Hochul’s budget proposal, the state would be permitted to issue bonds to pay for the Belmont redevelopment, with NYRA required to pay back $25.8 million a year until the loan and debt service is paid back. That money would come from NYRA’s share of revenue from video-lottery terminals, including thousands of the slot-like machines at the Resorts World New York City racetrack casino at Aqueduct.
Attendance at many horse-racing tracks across the country has steadily dropped over the decades, including at Aqueduct and Belmont — aside from the annual Belmont Stakes race, where attendance is capped at 50,000 people since the opening of UBS Arena. If Belmont is rebuilt and Aqueduct is shut down, Belmont’s would see about 160 days of racing a year, up from the current 40.
Democrats who control the state Legislature are split on the loan deal after resisting NYRA’s efforts to have them approve it last June.
Among the opponents are Rosenthal and state Sen. Robert Jackson (D-Manhattan), who were both at the rally opposing the loan on Wednesday.
Mulling its future
Sen. Joseph Addabbo, whose Queens district once included Aqueduct, is a supporter. He said it would be “bittersweet” to see racing end at the track, but the promise of redeveloping the land is too good to pass up.
Specifically, Addabbo raised the possibility of the state selling or leasing the land to Resorts World, which is bidding for one of three remaining full-scale casino licenses from the state.
“I'm more secure now knowing that if Aqueduct ceases to exist that we have possibilities and great potential for that acreage — including Resorts World possibly expanding, which would mean more local jobs and more local economic growth,” said Addabbo, who has received tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Genting, Resorts World’s owner, since 2011.
Opponents of the deal, meanwhile, say the $455 million loan is risky in and of itself.
NYRA’s agreement with the state to operate Aqueduct, Belmont and the Saratoga Race Course comes to an end in 2033 — well before the loan would be fully paid off. Under Hochul’s proposal, the next operator would be on the hook for the remainder of the loan, but critics say that leaves far too much uncertainty.
“There's no precedent in New York state history to make a 30-year loan to a private company when there's only 10 years left on that private company's contract,” said John Scheib, an animal welfare advocate and longtime critic of horse-racing subsidies, who was among those at the Capitol on Wednesday. “This is a half-billion-dollar loan with no one even signing up for the second half of the debt service.”
NYRA spokesperson Patrick McKenna defended the deal, saying it would help protect and create jobs in Belmont. He blasted the opponents who rallied at the Capitol, saying they refuse to have a “rational policy debate.”
“(These) anti-horse racing activists are engaged in a campaign to destroy the sport in New York and will do and say anything to advance that agenda,” he said in a statement. “They are completely out of touch with the concerns of real New Yorkers.”
Hochul and lawmakers will spend at least the next three weeks negotiating a final budget ahead of the start of the state's fiscal year on April 1.
Correction: The article has been updated to reflect that the Aqueduct Racetrack no longer falls within state Sen. Joseph Addabbo's district.
