http://www.newsday.com/opinion/letters/letter-why-close-racetrack-on-palm-sunday-1.4987592
Letter: Why close racetrack on Palm Sunday?
Photo credit: AP | In this photo provided by New York Racing Association,
Stay Thirsty, left, with Ramon Dominguez aboard, captures The G1 Cigar
Mile horse race at Aqueduct in New York. (Nov. 24, 2012)
To see what's wrong up in Albany,
one only needs to look at the fact that the Aqueduct Racetrack was
closed on Palm Sunday. On an average Sunday, The Big A has a total
handle of between $6 million and $7 million, of which New York State takes a percentage.Racing also injects money into the industry, paying jockeys, trainers, grooms, etc. Hundreds of employees -- pari-mutuel clerks and racing officials -- help put on the show, which the state gets a piece of in income taxes.
All of this, worth thousands upon thousands of dollars, was lost because on an antiquated law. Not being allowed to race on Christmas or Easter is OK, but Palm Sunday? The New York Racing Authority races on Thanksgiving, and that's a holiday that the vast majority of us celebrate.
Changing this law would be a slam-dunk revenue creator.
Gerard Bringmann, Patchogue
Editor's note: The writer is both a racing fan and a practicing Catholic.
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