Spitzer Wants Slots at Aqueduct

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer announced yesterday that he wants to get slots at the Aqueduct Racetrack within 60 days. He says that his predecessor had tried to get the slots issue taken care of but with repeated delays it did not come to fruition.

Spitzer is now in the process of choosing the company that will develop the slots, and knows that it will greatly increase revenue for the state once the slots are running. The plan would be to increase Aqueduct to include the slots as well as shops, a hotel, and other entertainment options. They are looking to bring in as many as 4,500 video lottery terminals into the track.

Those that visited the track would purchase one ticket – either or play the slots or to bet on the horses, and the first slots could be up and running within 18 months – turning a profit for the state. Spitzer has also said that he would be interested in adding them to Belmont as well – further up the road. There is some undeveloped land there that they could use.

However, he says that he is not interested in adding slots to Saratoga, which has to make at least New Jersey happy. As it is, the addition of slots to the other tracks will hurt Atlantic City’s revenues even more than they have been already. Both Belmont and Aqueduct are accessible by using the NYC subways, busses and commuter lines which makes it all that more profitable a business. Spitzer has also said that he is interested in allowing the New York Racing Association to continue to run the tracks for another 30 years now that they are under new management.



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