Opening has controversy

With a cut of the ribbon, the first phase of the racino at Yonkers Raceway--Empire City at Yonkers Raceway--opened Wednesday morning. But the opening of the first phase is causing controversy as New York horsemen are reportedly not happy and plan to protest the decision to open the site before it resumes live racing. Joe Faraldo, president of the Standardbred Owners Association of New York has made several statements to different newspapers regarding Yonkers’ initial operation of 1,870 video gaming machines.

“It stinks to high heaven,” Faraldo told the New York Post.

“The way this has all been done here is under the cover of the night,” Faraldo told another newspaper.

Faraldo was quoted as saying the horsemen plan to go to court today to ask a judge to determine under what authority the track is opening the casino without live racing. Yonkers officials have said they hope to resume live racing in a week to 10 days, although no draw schedule has yet to be announced.

The organization settled a lawsuit against the track earlier this year, which said the extended closure violated a 2004 agreement between the two sides that anticipated the closure.

"It's beneficial to all of us, the state, the raceway and the horsemen to get open as quickly as possible with the (video gaming) site," said Yonkers’ general counsel Timothy Rooney Jr.

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