NEW YORK—With an expected crowd that could fill two Yankee Stadiums, officials were warning Thursday that it could take up to two hours to leave after Saturday’s Belmont Stakes, but noted that would be an improvement over last year when some fans spent nearly twice as long jamming into a dilapidated train station or maneuvering through a quagmire of parking lots.
Track officials are limiting attendance to 90,000 this year, after more than 100,000 people overwhelmed the Long Island facilities a year ago. They have scheduled a post-race concert to encourage some of the throng to linger longer, and brought in a former top FBI official to coordinate security and traffic procedures.
“I was there and it was wholly unacceptable last year,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo told reporters this week after the state-run track and transportation system came under criticism for its performance. “I know that the MTA and NYRA have been working on it since then, and hopefully we have a different result.”
