Roosevelt Raceway (harness racing)

Roosevelt Raceway was a ½-mile harness racing dirt track located in Westbury, New York, which operated from September 2nd 1940 until July 15th, 1988. It was the original home of the Messenger Stakes, part of the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers. The raceway hosted the event until it closed. It was also the first track to use the now universal "mobile starting gate". The operation was sold in 1984 on the condition it was to remain an operating racetrack, but the facilities were then allowed to deteriorate by the owners to the point where it was no longer feasible [ [http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/newsday/access/77489063.html?dids=77489063:77489063&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jan+14%2C+1992&author=SYDNEY+H.+SCHANBERG&pub=Newsday&edition=Combined+editions&startpage=78&desc=Whitewash+Won%27t+Cover+This+Stain Whitewash Won't Cover This Stain] ] The site is now home to a several shopping centers and condominiums.

ite

The site of Roosevelt Raceway is part of the Hempstead Plains, located in an unincorporated area of the Town of Hempstead, within the Westbury 11590 Zip Code. It is located near where the first English Governor of New York, Richard Nicolls, established the "Newmarket Course", the first horse racing track in North America (and indeed, the first organized sport of any kind) in the territory that would become the United States, in 1664. [http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-historysports-chron,0,6602613,full.story LI Sports: A Chronology] ] Before the modern raceway was created, the site was part of the Roosevelt Field Airfield.

Founding

A racetrack had been created to host the dormant Vanderbilt Cup in 1936, but proved unsuccessful, and the race was only run at the site twice. The property was bought by a group of investors led by George Morton Levy in 1939, with the intention of opening a harness racing track. However, unlike previous incarnations of the sport, Levy's track would race at night, with single heat races, in an attempt to bring the "hick sport" to the populous Long Island area. With World War II in progress, attendance and profit were minimal in the first few years. [http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-historysports-roos,0,3783373.story?coll=ny-lihistory-navigation Roosevelt: The Rise and Fall] The track opened September 2nd, 1940 with a crowd of 5000 which bet a total of $40,742 and saw the first race won by the horse "Martha Lee" [Van Ness, Fred (September 3rd, 1940), "5000 Watch Trots on Opening Night", The New York Times (New York, NY) Section: Sports, Page 26]

Expansion and Innovation

One of the difficulties the sport faced was the start of races, which usually required multiple restarts to make sure each entrant had an equal chance. On May 24, 1946, Levy introduced the mobile starting gate, which eliminated most restart related delays. Attendance quickly boomed. On June 30th, 1956 the track would host the inaugural Messenger Stakes, part of the new "Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers". The race was won by Belle Acton, who tied the track record and won $32,320. [McGowan, Dean (July 1, 1956), "Belle Acton Victor is Messenger Stakes", The New York Times (New York, NY) Section: Sports, Page S1] In 1957 a new, much larger grandstand was opened, which included such features as dining and air conditioned areas, as well as a new toteboard. The grandstand was known as the "Dream Track". On August 20th, 1960 attendance was 54,861 for a racing card that included the International Trot, which at the time was the largest crowd to witness a horse race in the U.S. One black eye for the track occurred on November 8th, 1963, when only two horses finished following a mid-race crash. The race was declared official, which angered many of the 23,127 fans in attendance that night, setting off a riot. First throwing bottles and other debris, the fans then began jumping over the railing, smashing the tote board, and then attacking first the judges booth and then the police who attempted to interfere. After the fans began to set fires, arriving firemen set their hoses on the rioters to push them back. 15 people were treated for injuries. [Tuite, James (November 8th, 1963), "Fans Riot at L.I. Raceway, Battle Police and Set Fires", The New York Times (New York, NY) Page 1]

Decline and Fall

The introduction of Off Track Betting in New York in 1971 had caused a decline in attendance at all the state's racetracks. In addition, the land value of the area had begun to skyrocket. This led to attempts by developers to acquire the racetrack with the purpose of demolition and development, which was opposed by Nassau County on the grounds that jobs and a public service would be lost.

In 1984 the site was sold by Madison Square Garden, a subsidiary of Gulf and Western Industries, to a group of investors (Roosevelt Raceway Associates) led by incumbent raceway president Bill Hopkins and investor Charles L. Evans, who received $54 million in tax-free bonds issued by the Town of Hempstead Industrial Development Agency.

At the time of purchase they promised " . . to successfully operate the Roosevelt Raceway in its existing location and to preserve a traditional source of enjoyment and revenue for the citizens of Hempstead and surrounding communities." [http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/newsday/access/104043347.html?dids=104043347:104043347&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Aug+10%2C+1988&author=Douglas+Warren%2C+Standardbred+Owners+Association.&pub=Newsday&edition=Combined+editions&startpage=73&desc=Real+Estate+Profit+and+Racetrack+Loss] . But Raceway Associates closed the track in 1988, and became embroiled in a controversy over the bonds, that would lead to an investigation that would include New York Senator Alfonse D'Amato, although no one would be found guilty of any legal wrongdoing. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CEFD71E31F937A25752C0A964958260 D'Amato Cleared] ] . At the time of closure, the property was valued at approximately 200 million dollars. The investment group was unable to develop the site, and as the facilities were not maintained, the grandstand and stables began to crumble and the track became overgrown. While shopping centers were soon built on the former parking lots and stable areas, the grandstand would not be demolished until 2000. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D07E7DF143AF935A25752C0A9669C8B63 Roosevelt Raceway:Last Lap] ]

Today

Little remains of Roosevelt Raceway, other than the name, which still graces a shopping center and movie theater located on the former parking lot. The actual race track was at coordinates coord|40.739722|-73.597112|type:landmark|display=inline,title. The site of the grandstand and track which lay vacant for years is now the home to a luxury condominium complex, Meadow Brook Commons, which began operation in 2006. [Citation |last=Cotsalas |first=Valerie |title=Converting Nest Eggs Into Condos |newspaper=The New York Times |date=2006-06-18 |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/18/realestate/18lizo.html] . The area to the east, now a Home Depot, was the location of the stables. The last plot of Raceway property was converted into the Archstone Apartment complex.

References

External links

* [http://www.rooseveltraceway.com/ The Roosevelt Raceway Memorial]
* [http://www.angelfire.com/ny2/sgtjeff/rr.html Memorial to Roosevelt Raceway by Jeffrey Rosen]
* [http://ragingmike2001.tripod.com/id12.html Photo site]