Belmont Park has been dark for the past nine months due to reconstruction, but this was a momentous week in its history.
It appears the long-awaited plans to build a brand new, modern grandstand is finally about to become a reality. Both houses of the state legislature included in their one-house budgets this week funding for the project, which Governor Kathy Hochul also included in her budget plan announced earlier this year.
A lot of power brokering will happen among Hochul and legislative leaders between now and April 1, the state budget deadline, as they work out a spending deal for the coming year. But with all three parties in agreement on a new Belmont Park grandstand, the project looks as close to a fait accompli as it could be.
