It's A Wonderful (Resorts) World

The transformation of the decrepit Aqueduct grandstand to Resorts World is nothing but astounding. Wandering around, looking at and around, outside and inside, I noticed others with the same wild-eyed look of disbelief. At one point, upon entering the actual gambling floor for the first time, I caught the eyes of a couple of guys nearby, obviously veteran horseplayers like myself, and they articulated exactly what I was thinking. Holy shit!

When I last visited the Big A last May, the building didn't look all that different to me than it did in December. Any progress was not evident to the naked eye. It was still a mess. No more.

Above is the main entrance, located at around the midpoint of the grandstand, as viewed from the balcony off the Manhattan Terrace on the third floor. This area pictured used to be the backyard, built in the late 70s in a failed attempt to turn Aqueduct into a summer concert destination, later put to excellent use in the early days of Aquetoga simulcasting, and recently lying in neglect and ruin, before becoming a construction zone. (The old grandstand entrance on the grandstand turn side near where the flea market used to be is now an indoor deck garage.)


The front of the grandstand is equally impressive; no more paint chips hanging off this roof (and no signs of any pigeons nor their droppings. They're not old enough for casinos.) The apron is still fully available for use to watch the racing; it's been cleaned up, and the elevated level up those stairs runs the length of the track. It's now actually a really nice place to watch the races.

And then, there's the racino itself (only the ground floor is open so far; two more to come, with the third floor serving as an events area, for now anyway). Again, the transformation of the old first floor, mostly unused for many years now, is truly amazing. However, for the most part, if you've been in Yonkers, Saratoga, or, I imagine, any of the other New York racinos (or those in other states), you've surely seen this before. Sure, the scale may be grander here. And you may not have ever seen a big screen TV with this big of a screen!

Got this photo in before I was admonished for taking it. That's against the rules, though I didn't see that on the sign that said that you can't bring firearms in. This TV is part of the Bar 360, and it had TV's going all around (none of which I saw tuned to horse racing, at least when I was there).

OK, snuck in one more photo of the inside looking out at the infield tote board, which you can't see here, but it looks as if everyone is checking out the odds, right?

As for the racing side, now strictly confined to the old clubhouse, there's a clear divide between the new and the old.



It was reported last week by David Grening in the Racing Form that nothing there has changed. That's actually not entirely true. Genting now runs the concessions for the whole plant, and they apparently did find the time and money to take out or shutter most of the concession stands on the racing side. There's a new food stand on the first floor on the grandstand side (with extremely reasonable, if not downright cheap, pricing....$5.50 for a can of Stella as opposed to $9.50 for the same at the renovated Garden)....and the concessions in the Man O War room on the second floor is also open. There were crude signs in the Man O'War and Manhattan Terrace rooms noting that "No Outside Food or Drink Allowed." Heard a lot of grumbling about the lines. Seems obvious that we're being very strongly encouraged to go over to the slots side for food. I mean, they even took out the vending machines! For heaven's sake!

And for the time being anyway, visiting the ample selection of casino food options requires going outside, either in the back, or out on the grandstand apron, and back in. There is a passageway on the first floor that looks ready to go, but it was closed on Saturday. There, on the track side, one does at least get the taste of the casino; something brand new. Carpeting, the aforementioned new Genting-run concession stand (sad to think about all the familiar faces from over the years that are now out of work), a bright sign in place to tell you where you go when you cross over to the other side, and new bathrooms with cheesy disco music (the kind of mindless soundtrack which presumably makes you completely lose yours and want to play slots). So, there was indeed some time and effort put into the racing side....but only intended to benefit Genting. Nothing here for us regulars...not even a little cursory cleanup.

Here I must also mention that the video feed for the Breeders' Cup races (which I'll get to in the next post) was fuzzy throughout the track, and unaccompanied by sound. They were using some official Breeders Cup feed which was particularly lame. That's just unacceptable. Could have been easily corrected by switching to ABC/ESPN if anyone was paying attention (and if there was no contractual reason why they couldn't do so).

One particular note of caution....parking in the track lot was a problem, at least when I arrived around 20 minutes before first post. I encountered no traffic whatsoever coming on Rockaway Boulevard from Woodhaven (a back way avoiding the highway). Cruised into the parking lot, drove past the casino entrance towards the clubhouse. But when I got there, where there is now a $2 charge for general parking, I encountered a backup. I kept driving just to check out the scene, and the line back towards the Belt Parkway side was really, really long, stretching almost all the way back to the entrance off North Conduit Ave.

I drove out and circled back around to the Rockaway Blvd entrance, and this time just parked in one of the casino lots (which is now free, but I don't believe that will be the case for long; that's the logic for reinstating the track parking charge). Couldn't find a spot at first, but then noticed people getting into a car. It was an older, sad looking couple. They did not look as if they'd had a good time. Resorts World, and other such gambling facilities, are portrayed as these glamorous new palaces, with fancy food, ample drink, high-end entertainment, the promise of high-end hotels; a place where attractive and hip young people go to have a great time.

But there's little attractive or glamorous about seeing a morose couple slinking into their modest car in a casino parking lot at noon. I figure that anyone sitting at a slot machine at that hour is just not there to be entertained. And this was on a Saturday....who exactly is playing slots at 8:30 AM on a Tuesday morning?

I dunno though....after all, I'm planning to be at the track by 11 AM on Thanksgiving morning, so who am I to talk? Gambling is gambling to a certain extent, and I'm sure there are plenty of people at the track or OTB's who are there out of compulsion. But I'm a horseplayer, and yeah, I've got a bit of a superiority complex in this case, no doubt. Despite the dark side inherent in any gambling endeavor, damn right I think our game is far above the zombie mindlessness of slot machines, and to most other casino games of chance as well, be they virtual or conducted by human beings. It's horrible to think that our sport is subsidized by this money; even worse that it's become a convenient way for state legislators to balance their budgets. And I'm as guilty as anyone for, as my yoga instructor encourages me to do in that setting, acknowledging those thoughts and then flicking them away. Racing has got to find a way to exist and thrive on its own. Not only because the casino bubble is bound to burst at some point. But because it's the right thing to do.