My Last Belmont

[GenuineRisk]

Leaving was a total sh*tshow, and I don't understand why. Every year there is a triple crown on the line, they have about 100,000 people come, and every year Belmont seems to staff for a non-TC Belmont. I know the staff is working hard, and I certainly don't blame the tellers for novice wagerers, but for the love of pete, would it kill them to put four bartenders behind each bar instead of two? Or double the number of people working the concession stands? The lines were out of control (and I can't even where the women's rest rooms were concerned- there were lines over 50 people deep, waiting, by 1PM, when we arrived).

We stayed for the last two races to let the lines drop down a bit on the LIRR (and so a friend who came with us to the racetrack for the very first time ever could have the fun of going down to the rail to watch the races since the crowds had cleared), and when we left, after standing in line still inside the facility (it's a long walk to the trains once you're outside), we were rerouted downstairs because we were told the walkway structure was unsafe. We were given no instructions of where to go once we were outside, and the trains are only reachable via the long walkway on the second floor, so thousands of us ended up at the bottom of stairwells that were fenced off from the walkway, manned by policemen without megaphones so no one could hear anything. We stood there over an hour, until finally, without any information, they started letting people who had ignored their instructions to go downstairs and had stayed on the second floor go over the same walkway they had told us was structurally unsound. They then brought out blowtorches to cut through the fencing closing off the stairwells, and then let us stand there quite a while longer. I was at the last stairwell to be finally allowed to go up to the walkway, then down to a train, where we sat for 40 minutes in the station (or I should say, some of us sat; we were lucky enough to get seats, but many people didn't and stood until Jamaica, so they stood another 40 minutes on a not-moving train). We headed for the exit at 8:30, and finally were permitted onto a train after 10PM. I got home close to midnight, and that was only because the Gods of the subway took pity on my poor tired self and sent a C train to my platform right after I disembarked at Penn Station . Less than an hour out to Belmont, three hours to get back.

And that was only a half hour more than it took to get back from Smarty Jones' TC bid, and that time there was no rerouting downstairs.

On the bright side, my friend who was going for the first time cashed on all but one of her wagers, so she at least was not turned off the whole experience, and does actually want to go back next year.

[tanner12oz]

Originally Posted by GenuineRisk

Leaving was a total sh*tshow, and I don't understand why. Every year there is a triple crown on the line, they have about 100,000 people come, and every year Belmont seems to staff for a non-TC Belmont. I know the staff is working hard, and I certainly don't blame the tellers for novice wagerers, but for the love of pete, would it kill them to put four bartenders behind each bar instead of two? Or double the number of people working the concession stands? The lines were out of control (and I can't even where the women's rest rooms were concerned- there were lines over 50 people deep, waiting, by 1PM, when we arrived).

We stayed for the last two races to let the lines drop down a bit on the LIRR (and so a friend who came with us to the racetrack for the very first time ever could have the fun of going down to the rail to watch the races since the crowds had cleared), and when we left, after standing in line still inside the facility (it's a long walk to the trains once you're outside), we were rerouted downstairs because we were told the walkway structure was unsafe. We were given no instructions of where to go once we were outside, and the trains are only reachable via the long walkway on the second floor, so thousands of us ended up at the bottom of stairwells that were fenced off from the walkway, manned by policemen without megaphones so no one could hear anything. We stood there over an hour, until finally, without any information, they started letting people who had ignored their instructions to go downstairs and had stayed on the second floor go over the same walkway they had told us was structurally unsound. They then brought out blowtorches to cut through the fencing closing off the stairwells, and then let us stand there quite a while longer. I was at the last stairwell to be finally allowed to go up to the walkway, then down to a train, where we sat for 40 minutes in the station (or I should say, some of us sat; we were lucky enough to get seats, but many people didn't and stood until Jamaica, so they stood another 40 minutes on a not-moving train). We headed for the exit at 8:30, and finally were permitted onto a train after 10PM. I got home close to midnight, and that was only because the Gods of the subway took pity on my poor tired self and sent a C train to my platform right after I disembarked at Penn Station . Less than an hour out to Belmont, three hours to get back.

And that was only a half hour more than it took to get back from Smarty Jones' TC bid, and that time there was no rerouting downstairs.

On the bright side, my friend who was going for the first time cashed on all but one of her wagers, so she at least was not turned off the whole experience, and does actually want to go back next year.

your female friend like going into the mens room with piss cascading out the doors because the girls line was at least 50 yards out the door ?

its hard to be a super hot track babe in conditions like yesterday ..lots pulled it off tthough

Yesterdays Belmont Stakes card is a good example of crowd control study. 100k is abnormaly large for a sporting event. Yankee Stadium or MSG can no where hold the many people Belmont can so this was probably a learning experience for future events on what not to do.

[GenuineRisk]

Originally Posted by helicopter11

Yesterdays Belmont Stakes card is a good example of crowd control study. 100k is abnormaly large for a sporting event. Yankee Stadium or MSG can no where hold the many people Belmont can so this was probably a learning experience for future events on what not to do.

But Belmont has this happen every time there is a TC on the line and every time it's understaffed. They are choosing not to learn from it. The best Belmont, in terms of service, I can think of was I'll Have Another's non-run, because 20,000 or so decided last minute not to come, and NYRA's idea of what 100,000+ needed in terms of service was about right for the what, 80,000 who did go. That was a very nice day at Belmont. Yesterday was not.