Under The Wire - From the Point

Add balm for residents near Belmont Park to the long list of items that is likely to get stuffed into the final package of bills in Albany.

For years, Assemb. Michaelle Solages has introduced a bill that would establish a local advisory board for Belmont Park. Similar boards exist for Aqueduct and Saratoga, but Solages’ attempts to amend that legislation to include Belmont had failed. Efforts to create such a board for Belmont even predated Solages, going back to when Craig Johnson was in the State Senate in 2009.

Now, however, Solages has a partner in the State Senate in Sen. Anna Kaplan, who has introduced her own legislation to mirror Solages’.

The bill, which would amend state racing law, would establish a 15-member board tasked with advising the New York Racing Association on issues related to Belmont Park.  

Five would be appointed by the Nassau County executive, four of whom would have to reside in Elmont. Two others also would live in Elmont, and would be appointed by the Town of Hempstead. Two members would be chosen by the mayor of Floral Park, and would have to live in that community; and one would be chosen by the mayor of South Floral Park, and would have to live there. Two would be appointed by a Queens community board to represent the Queens side that borders Belmont Park. And three would be appointed by NYRA. The board would meet twice a year.

“The goal is really to act as a liaison between NYRA and the local communities to ensure that voices in those communities are being heard,” Kaplan told The Point Monday. “I’ve heard from my constituents that this is what they wanted and I made it my mission to get it done.”

Solages said the board would focus on horse racing-related topics, but that could include concerns such as those that emerge after the Belmont Stakes, like traffic and garbage, and plans for the future of horse racing at Belmont.

“We need to ensure that we’re protecting the horse racing industry,” Solages said. “This will be important to the future of Belmont.”

A Belmont advisory board has been a long-standing ask from Elmont residents, including those who are part of the Belmont Park Community Coalition, a group that has expressed concerns about the broader Belmont development efforts. But the board won’t advise directly on anything related to the planned arena and retail village at Belmont, because there have been separate community advisory committee meetings and other public hearings for that purpose. Nonetheless, Kaplan noted that the board might help to “bring a divided group together, to hear each others’ concerns and what’s important to them.”

Just in time. The final environmental impact statement for Belmont’s redevelopment is due to come out by the end of the month.

- Randi F. Marshall @RandiMarshall