Examiner's Schwab assails Bay Meadows 'Development' Co.

[slotdirt]

I attended two proms at Garden State Park while there was night racing.

[DerbyCat]

Thanks for posting this Steve, I don't read the Examiner so this commentary didn't get my attention until you put it up.

About a month or two ago they finally removed the largest pile of mangled steel from the demo site (or maybe they hid it behind the wind-screened fence) - it truly was an eyesore for over six months. There still a massive pile of concrete rubble and the area still has the look of a war zone. The only consolation that I take from this whole situation is that the greedy bastards that tore it down so they could make money from the land are making nothing.

It still hurts when I drive past this place, the track had such wonderful historic value - society doesn't always benefit when we tear down to past to build the future. My sympathies to any of you that have/had this happen to your local track.

[joeydb]

Originally Posted by slotdirt

I attended two proms at Garden State Park while there was night racing.

Yeah, I know what you mean. The strange thing was that when Atlantic City got casino gambling, and then the drinking age in NJ was raised to 21. Since the casinos served free drinks, they didn't let anybody in unless you were 21. But you could still legally gamble at 18 at the horse races and by playing the lottery.

It was an advantage, and probably still is, for the racetrack if they could successfully market to the 18-21 year old crowd. And as Steve mentions on the air, for $20 you could have something on every race on the card...cheap night out.

[freddymo]

Amazing that folks in SF allowed this wonderful legendary instution of racing(lol) and there 5 horse fields and crappy purses, to be demolished by greedy business people.

Sometimes I wonder what the heck people are thinking.Do you all think that the Bay Meadows product was terriffic and was generating tons of money for its owner? Seriously think about it. IF Bay Meadows was such a great business would any of this have happened? It's a shame that this has happened and its speaks volumes about how insane polictics can be but let's not lose sight that the reason Bay Meadows is no more is because there product sucked. Save all the 1960's nostalgia for a coffee table book as long as I can remember Bay Meadows was an unplayable haven of 5 horse fields and Russel Bazes winning 3 to 5 races a day on odds on horses. It was hardly MUST SEE TV?

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by freddymo

Amazing that folks in SF allowed this wonderful legendary instution of racing (lol) and there 5 horse fields and crappy purses, to be demolished by greedy business people.

Freddy, honestly... Bay Meadows was indeed an institution; a legendary and historic facility responsible for many innovations and famous moments in racing, as well as a San Fransisco landmark. I'm reminded of Saul Steinberg's famed NYers' view of the world...

[pointman]

Roosevelt Raceway highlights why demolishing tracks and building certainly is not always a good thing. Today where it used to stand are a bunch of stores that just duplicate the bunch of stores within a few miles of the area, a mall about a mile away from one of the biggest malls on long island that is headlined by a company (Fortunoff) which has gone out of business and has nothing you really can't get at the Roosevelt Field Mall or locally, and a housing project which sits empty 20 years after the destruction due to the greed of its developers. It has also had the effect of bringing more traffic to an area which the last thing the area needs is more traffic.

The author of the article makes a lot of sense, just because the land is there doesn't mean that one has to put up commercial businesses, housing and a park. Who needs another park anyway?

[freddymo]

Yeah Steve they invented stuff at Bay Meadows that greatly helped the game..We all know about the photo finish camera etc. terriffic. Can you at least recognize the Bay Meadows was a failing business? Can you at least represent that the last 15 years of racing there was VERY below average. Can you speak to the crappy attendance and low handle because the product sucked.


I live near Freehold Raceway.. I remember when Niatross was there for the Dancer and they had 20k in attendance. Does this mean the place should stay opened for racing? There are 500 people there sometimes the place is devoid of patrons.. So because Freehold was an immensely important Standardbred track the owners are obligated to operate? Get Real, Wake Up the world changes and most importantly understand that nobody sells horses that make them tons of money to the kill pen for .30 a pound. And nobody demolishes thriving business because they can't stand the success. Bay Meadows is no more because the product didn't cut it, regardless of there 1934 starting gate implementation or Seabiscuit's great runs. Who the Fcuk cares that they invented the Daily Double there in 1947. They had 5 horse fields with 2 horses that could win for years.

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by freddymo

Yeah Steve they invented stuff at Bay Meadows that greatly helped the game..We all know about the photo finish camera etc. terriffic. Can you at least recognize the Bay Meadows was a failing business? Can you at least represent that the last 15 years of racing there was VERY below average. Can you speak to the crappy attendance and low handle because the product sucked.


I live near Freehold Raceway.. I remember when Niatross was there for the Dancer and they had 20k in attendance. Does this mean the place should stay opened for racing? There are 500 people there sometimes the place is devoid of patrons.. So because Freehold was an immensely important Standardbred track the owners are obligated to operate? Get Real, Wake Up the world changes and most importantly understand that nobody sells horses that make them tons of money to the kill pen for .30 a pound. And nobody demolishes thriving business because they can't stand the success. Bay Meadows is no more because the product didn't cut it, regardless of there 1934 starting gate implementation or Seabiscuit's great runs. Who the Fcuk cares that they invented the Daily Double there in 1947. They had 5 horse fields with 2 horses that could win for years.

I understood the progress and change aspect of this when the BMDC foreshadowed the closing. That was one thing... But the way things have turned out is quite another. The core point of Schwab's piece is that the track operating was preferable to what they have now. And there is no argument to be made against his rationale. The employment and tax generation for the community should simply be shrugged off? If the development project languishes for another 5 years, what then? Why was it so urgent to level the facility? And the same thing is going to happen in Inglewood.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by pointman

Roosevelt Raceway highlights why demolishing tracks and building certainly is not always a good thing. Today where it used to stand are a bunch of stores that just duplicate the bunch of stores within a few miles of the area, a mall about a mile away from one of the biggest malls on long island that is headlined by a company (Fortunoff) which has gone out of business and has nothing you really can't get at the Roosevelt Field Mall or locally, and a housing project which sits empty 20 years after the destruction due to the greed of its developers. It has also had the effect of bringing more traffic to an area which the last thing the area needs is more traffic.

The author of the article makes a lot of sense, just because the land is there doesn't mean that one has to put up commercial businesses, housing and a park. Who needs another park anyway?

The Roosevelt Raceway thing was criminal. A few "horseman" got the town to issue tax free bonds to buy the place with the pledge to keep it as a racetrack. But almost as soon as they took control they began cutting costs and staff and made it as unprofitable as they could to cover their tracks in order to declare it too unprofitable to continue and sell to developers for a lot more than they purchased it for. It was tied up in court for years but in the end they made out like bandits.