Saratoga Backstretch Article

[randallscott35]

Originally Posted by Clip-Clop

OMG! Poor people have bad living conditions! This is shocking, thank you NY's Hometown Paper. Where would we be without these hard hitting articles. Please.

Yes, backstretch workers deserve cages don't they. This is a horse racing board. This has nothing to do about being poor.

[Clip-Clop]

Originally Posted by randallscott35

Yes, backstretch workers deserve cages don't they. This is a horse racing board. This has nothing to do about being poor.

Not at all where I was going, of course they don't. No more than anyone else does. That said, my comments were more about the revelation this article provides (none). This might not be common knowledge to anyone outside the sport but by the same token; landscapers in NJ, fruit pickers in CA and restaurant workers in Manhattan share very similar conditions. Hopefully this will not always be the case.

[Clip-Clop]

Originally Posted by HomerS

So what do you think are best way to address such situations?

Publicizing these types of issues has done very little for inner city projects throughout the years. This is a similar type of circumstance, no? These are, in effect, public housing, which I am not sure if you have lived there but they are not well known for upkeep.

[Clip-Clop]

Originally Posted by HomerS

The difference here is you have people in public housing without jobs or working at different places. Here the people all work and on location.

Also, not like there is rampant crime or anything going on.

Just seems like with all the money that bettors put into the game that some of it could find its way to improving conditions.

This is why it makes sense to do something about it. These are hard working good people.
I do agree, the issue is that history has shown that it is unlikely to happen as long as the state gov't is in charge. Not well known for sharing with the less fortunate under any circumstances, despite news coverage. I have never worked a backstretch, but did know a guy at MTH who said it was "OK", didn't get much into details honestly but he had no specific complaints.

Originally Posted by HomerS

The difference here is you have people in public housing without jobs or working at different places. Here the people all work and on location.

Also, not like there is rampant crime or anything going on.

Just seems like with all the money that bettors put into the game that some of it could find its way to improving conditions.

Except for the crime part. Backstretches can get rowdy at times.

[clyde]

Originally Posted by HomerS

The difference here is you have people in public housing without jobs or working at different places. Here the people all work and on location.

Also, not like there is rampant crime or anything going on.

Just seems like with all the money that bettors put into the game that some of it could find its way to improving conditions.

Honula lies.


She lies.

[Clip-Clop]

Originally Posted by clyde

Honula lies.


She lies.

Choctaw?

[Cannon Shell]

If you took one of the dorms and put it on Saratoga Lake they would be calling it rustic. They aren't luxury apartments but are hardly squalor. People camping around lake george pay good money for similar.

[NTamm1215]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

If you took one of the dorms and put it on Saratoga Lake they would be calling it rustic. They aren't luxury apartments but are hardly squalor. People camping around lake george pay good money for similar.

Thank you for weighing in. There are also measures in place on behalf of NYRA to improve the backstretch, notably the BEST, which was handed a check for 20k on Monday. That's certainly not enough to get things up to many people's standards, but it's a start.

The comments made earlier in this thread regarding the media at large having an agenda pertain more to dealings with NYRA. When in a three day period you have Ed Fountaine making negative remarks about a 2YO race not being split and mocking a "new and improved NYRA" then Paul Moran writing about how the racing should be cut back (he's clearly a terrific businessman) then read a piece about backstretch dormitory conditions, it's easy to think "What the hell else is there to b.itch about?"

If one were to actually believe much of what's written by "respected" journalists regarding NYRA, they'd adopt a very dim view because the alternative is never portrayed.

[paisjpq]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

If you took one of the dorms and put it on Saratoga Lake they would be calling it rustic. They aren't luxury apartments but are hardly squalor. People camping around lake george pay good money for similar.

thankyou. not to mention that many of these workers (and don't get me wrong , I'm not discounting their value) are illegal....and have better health care and childcare benefits than I do.