Mangano, NYRA, LIRR Prez, John Tsunis, Kick Off Belmont Stakes Festivities; Creates Major Economic Boon for Nassau
Elmont, NY - June 6, 2014 - Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano was joined by Chris Kay, CEO of the New York Racing Association (NYRA); Dave O’Rourke, Vice President of Corporate Development for the New York Racing Association (NYRA); LIRR President Pat Nowakowski; John Tsunis, Chairman of the New York State Hotel and Hospitality Association; NYRA’s Sammy the Bugler; Nassau County Acting Police Commissioner Tom Krumpter; and Grady Colin, General Manager of the Garden City Hotel to announce an expected restaurant and hotel boon as a result of the Triple Crown Contender California Chrome coming to the Belmont Stakes this weekend.
“The Belmont Stakes is always a great start to the summer tourism season and this year's Triple Crown contender California Chrome makes for an even greater weekend at the track,” said County Executive Mangano. “I invite everyone to visit Belmont Park and take advantage of the frequent train service provided by the Long Island Railroad. The race, now in its 146th year, provides our County with a major boon to the local economy and this Saturday millions around the world will be watching us once again.”
The Belmont Stakes is one of the largest sporting events in the world. Tens of millions of viewers and spectators watch the famed sporting event from across the world and over 120,000 spectators are expected to attend Saturday’s event. Millions of dollars will be poured into the local economy. Local restaurants, hotels, cafes, and merchants are expected to have a large spike in business.
In a regular season, economists predict that Belmont Racing season benefits the local economy to the tune of nearly $10 million dollars and that doesn’t count the benefit from visitors spending their dollars at local hotels, restaurants, and retail locations.The financial benefit to the county could potentially be double due to the Triple Crown contender “California Chrome” when taking into account the hotels and restaurants that benefit from an event of this magnitude. For one afternoon, the eyes of the world will turn its eyes to Nassau’s own Belmont Stakes.
The Nassau County Police Department has been meeting with the New York State Police Department, the MTA Police, the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, Belmont’s private security and other law enforcement agencies in an effort to work together to protect our residents and visitors. Additional resources and personnel will be utilized to help ensure that Saturday’s Belmont Stakes is a fun filled day for everyone without incident. To that end, there will be no backpacks, no coolers, no luggage and no duffel bags allowed. Food items if spectators want to bring them must be in see-through plastic containers or see through bags.
LIRR President Pat Nowakowski stated: “The LIRR will be the best way to avoid traffic and get to Belmont for the Stakes race and a potential Triple Crown,” said LIRR President Patrick Nowakowski. “We will have plenty of extra service to and from the event. We urge customers to buy their train tickets in advance and consider staying at the park for the late races and for the special concert after the Stakes race to avoid the surge of customers who tend to leave immediately after the big race. We know this will be a great event for Nassau County and for our region and we are happy to support it with extra train service to help keep cars off the roads.”
In addition to the Belmont Stakes residents can attend the annual Belmont Festival in Garden City tomorrow. This very popular event, sponsored by the New York Racing Association and Stifel Investment Services, is one of the most anticipated and well attended events of the year and it gets bigger and more popular each and every year throughout the county. The Festival here in Garden City will take place on 7th Street from 6-10 p.m. tomorrow, Friday, June 6th and will feature live music, family-friendly activities including games, face painting and pony rides and a chicken - “Wing Off” – competition that will benefit the Ace in the Hole Foundation, created in honor of 1st Lt. Michael LiCalzi, a Garden City resident who lost his life while serving his country during Operation Iraqi Freedom in May of 2006.
In addition, residents and visitors can attend festivities in Floral Park this Sunday. The Village of Floral Park will host their Annual Floral Park Belmont Festival on Sunday, June 8th from 2pm to 7pm on Tulip Avenue.
Garden City Hotel’s General Manager, Grady Colin stated: "The Garden City Hotel is proud to be a part of the Belmont Stakes’ illustrious history, especially with the excitement surrounding a potential Triple Crown. As the hotel is celebrating its 140th anniversary this year, we are fortunate to mark this milestone with another time-honored tradition, the Belmont Stakes. As the host hotel, we look forward to welcoming the racing crowd back again to Garden City.”
The Belmont Stakes take place this Saturday, June 7, 2011 at Belmont Park, located at 2150 Hempstead Turnpike, Elmont NY. For more information please visit belmontstakes.com