By GREGORY ZELLER //
Even in a world where 18-1 longshots sometimes win by a nose, favorites still rule the roost.
So there’s a comforting logic in the news that the Long Island Regional Planning Council, in a move that shocks precisely no one, has deemed the modernization of historic Belmont Park a “Project of Regional Significance.”
Citing positive economic benefits ranging from a stable of temporary construction jobs to a future influx of tax and tourism-related revenues, the LIRPC blessed the massive $455 million renovation effort Wednesday, following a presentation by New York Racing Association Board of Directors Member Michael Dubb.
Dubb – a successful racehorse owner and the founder and chief executive officer of Jericho-based residential developer The Beechwood Organization – gave an overview of the ongoing reconstruction effort, which began in March and is expected to cross the finish midway through 2026.
John Cameron: Likes the odds.
Among the highlights were 3,700 temporary construction jobs – and an impressive $1 billion in construction-related economic activity – during the project’s two-year-plus timespan. Dubb also trumpeted 700 full-time jobs across the renovated park, an annual $155 million regional economic impact and $45 million in yearly state and local tax revenues.
Marking the first major upgrade for the circa-1905 racing venue since the mid-1960s, the Belmont Park revival is slated to replace the park’s existing 1.25 million-square-foot main building with a modern 275,000-square-foot building, featuring a 7,500-seat grandstand and cavernous interior (overall park capacity will still exceed 50,000 visitors).
Also on tap are updated amenities including new clubs and restaurants and, for the first time in Belmont’s 120-year history, visitor access to the racetrack’s 45-acre infield, which the LIRPC deems ideal for “community events and non-racing activities.”
The reconstruction effort will force the relocation of at least two years’ worth of Belmont Stakes races, the third leg of horseracing’s vaunted Triple Crown for 3-year-old thoroughbreds (following the Kentucky Derby, famously run at Churchill Downs, and the Preakness Stakes, historically run at Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course).
The Belmont Stakes is scheduled to run this year – and in 2025 – at the Saratoga Race Course, with the 2026 location still up in the air.
However, once completed, the lengthy Belmont renovation figures to pay across-the-board dividends fairly quickly. The NYRA is already projecting $100 million in economic activity surrounding the 2026 Breeders Cup event, which the new Belmont Park is slated to host in the Fall of 2026.
Including tourism impacts, horseracing is a $3 billion industry across New York State, and while losing at least two Belmont Stakes events is a blow to regional coffers, the new world-class facility will be worth the wait economically and otherwise, according to Long Island Regional Planning Council Chairman John Cameron, who noted the renovations are happening with zero expense to regional taxpayers.
On track: The massive reconstruction effort will create thousands of jobs.
“Through a loan to the New York Racing Association which will be paid at no cost to the taxpayers, the state is making a significant and much-needed investment to modernize Belmont Park,” Cameron said Wednesday. “We welcome the excitement the new facility will bring to fans and recognize the substantial economic benefits our region will derive.
“[Belmont] has a storied place in Long Island’s history and is a national treasure in the world of horse racing.”
