State budget negotiators in New York reached a tentative agreement April 26 to provide the New York Racing Association a $455 million loan to fund major reconstruction. Belmont Parka plan that also envisions the future closure of Aqueduct race track to merge the Thoroughbred race in the New York City area into a single track.
The impending Belmont deal is a small part of a more than $225 billion state budget plan that, as of Wednesday night, is still coming together at the New York State Capitol in Albany.
Lawmakers were presented with the parameters of the Belmont loan agreement, ensuring that they will remain a voice in the future in both the Belmont and Aqueduct components through the state Franchise Oversight Board, an NYRA financial oversight board and includes representatives of the Legislature.
Closely mirroring plans for the Belmont project were pushed forward this year by Governor Kathy Hochul and the Democrats who control the state Senate and House of Representatives. Last month, it became clear that some sort of NYRA Belmont loan plan would be included in a final budget agreement, which is said to have been passed on March 31. The policy and financial disputes are not related. authorities have made passage of the final 2023 budget elusive for Democrats who control Albany; Agreements on a wide range of topics were in place this week, and a final budget could be approved in the coming days.
As for the Belmont project, there are still unresolved issues regarding the role of the local community advisory board in future development plans for Aqueduct, a major parcel of property in Queens. That site is poised to become a major financial windfall for unknown developers in the future, as well as the state that owns the Aqueduct as well as the Belmont racetrack. Neighborhood groups near the Aqueduct have raised concerns about commercial density issues about future Aqueduct real estate initiatives, and many state and local lawmakers want to ensure that the project will include affordable housing components.
According to sources, the Belmont deal is expected to include a number of provisions relating to everything from union work guarantees for future track construction projects to efficiency standards. Certain energy is met at the renovated track.
The NYRA has been promoting the Belmont project for over a year. It wants to completely renovate the facility, including building a smaller, more modern grandstand, new track surfaces and opening a courtyard for recreational racing and non-racing events.
Critics, including animal rights groups that visited the Capitol this week, have in part argued that the state should end its funding of horse racing, which they say is the dangerous to horses and unsuitable as a source of taxpayer money. The NYRA and its supporters say the plan will create and maintain jobs across the state and will help the sport thrive for future fans.
NYRA’s plan for Belmont calls for the state to lend the racing company a loan to renovate the Long Island-based track, with the NYRA repaying $455 million over 20 years through revenue-sharing. which they receive from video lottery terminal payments from casinos located at the Aqueduct racetrack. Once the Belmont project was essentially complete, the NYRA agreed that it would waive its existing lease with the state for the Aqueduct racecourse, which would free up that property for lucrative real estate projects. is still unknown but secured thanks to its prime location.
According to information presented to lawmakers on Wednesday, the agreement expected at the Capitol in Albany includes provisions to secure labor agreements on the project for construction workers. unions, as well as project job security for minority and women-owned businesses as well as veteran-owned companies. .
As always before a master state budget deal, components like the Belmont loan initiative are still subject to change depending on possible issues and beyond different negotiating tables. Negotiators in recent days have discussed everything from changes to criminal laws to the minimum wage to the expansion of charter schools.
But some sort of Belmont plan is expected in the final budget because all three parties—Hochul, Senate Democrats, and Congressional Democrats—have this year openly embraced the concept for the people. state taxpayer borrowed $455 million NYRA for the project.
