O'Rourke pleads case for Belmont bond issue before legislative committee

The chief executive of the New York Racing Association on Thursday told a joint New York State legislative committee that a proposal to use state bonds to fund the renovation of Belmont Park would put the New York racing industry on solid footing for the foreseeable future.

David O’Rourke, the president and chief executive officer of NYRA, told the joint committee that NYRA would “pay back every dollar, plus interest” of the $455 million bond issue over 20 years if the legislature authorizes the plan. He said that the proposal to rebuild Belmont Park and allow the state to monetize the Aqueduct property in Queens would lead to better uses of Belmont, a stable racing and breeding industry, and the continuation of $3 billion in annual economic activity related to those industries.

“This delivers for New York families,” O’Rourke said.

The joint committee meeting was held to discuss a wide range of economic development proposals, including several that were included in the proposed $277 billion budget released last week by Gov. Kathy Hochul. That budget included support for the issuance of the state-backed bonds to rebuild Belmont, a plan that NYRA and other racing constituents in New York have been pushing for several years.

O’Rourke received pushback on the idea from one legislator, Sen. Liz Krueger, who questioned O’Rourke on the length of NYRA’s franchise and the long-term viability of racing, not just in New York, but nationwide. NYRA’s franchise, which is authorized by the legislature, expires in 2033, at which point the state could decide on any number of options for the properties where NYRA runs racing. The properties were deeded to the state as part of the last franchise agreement.

“What happens if we end our franchise with NYRA before you pay us back?” Krueger said.

The proposal seemed to be acceptable to most of the legislators on the joint panel, including Gary Pretlow, the longtime chairman of the Assembly’s Racing, Wagering, and Gaming Committee, who extracted positive answers from O’Rourke on the stability of racing days in a post-Aqueduct world, the minimal impact on NYRA of its debt repayment plan, and the ability of the state to benefit from a lease or sale of the Aqueduct property, which sits adjacent to a subway line near JFK airport.

Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, who represents the district where Saratoga Race Course is located, prefaced her questions to O’Rourke with a short statement describing how she “experiences the economic impact of racing” in her district. She then elicited a response from O’Rourke claiming that the consolidation of racing at Belmont and Saratoga would not jeopardize the current year-round racing circuit. Woerner’s district includes a large number of breeding farms.

“To have the continuity of a racing circuit year-round to support the New York-bred is part of our core mission,” O’Rourke said.

While the proposal has gotten off on the right foot so far, the plan is not certain to be supported by a majority of the legislature, which last year sustained heavy flak after voting for a grant of hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer money to build a new stadium for the NFL’s Buffalo Bills. Lobbyists and supporters of the NYRA project have consistently pointed out the plans differ substantially, in that no taxpayer money will be used to pay the NYRA bonds off.

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