NYRA's Value to Residents Seen in Vaccination Centers

For the first time in nearly 11 months, there has finally been a wave of activity on the first floor of the clubhouse at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Yet it's not what anyone could have envisioned a little more than a year ago.

At the very same time as horses are racing around the venerable 1 1/8-mile oval in Ozone Park, about 25 yards away from the winner's circle a steady stream of New Yorkers are receiving treatments that may very well save their life and help stem the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

Ever since Jan. 18, Aqueduct has served as one of about 10 New York State vaccination distribution centers, joining Belmont Park, which had become a vaccination center for Northwell Health earlier in January.

Seven days a week from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. people flow into Aqueduct through the clubhouse Turf and Field entrance for their scheduled appointments and head to a transformed first floor area.

Where there used to be rows of benches for the viewing of live and simulcast races, there are now 50 vaccination pods where healthcare workers handle the injections. The mutuel bays, where millions of dollars have changed hands over the years, now serve as both a check-in station for patients, which include but is not limited to frontline workers, first responders, and persons who are age 65 or older, and an area where the vaccine is stored and prepared by the staff. 

While racing goes on in its typical four-day-a-week cycle at Aqueduct, even more important than an individual horse race is the race taking place at the Big A to keep vulnerable members of the local population safe from a heinous illness.

"The minor adjustments required to convert the first floor of Aqueduct to a vaccination site pale in comparison to the massive effort undertaken by New York State to quickly and effectively distribute the COVID-19 vaccine," New York Racing Association CEO and president Dave O'Rourke said. "This is an unprecedented public health emergency and we applaud the state for rapidly mobilizing to create these vaccination sites across the state. NYRA is pleased to be able to contribute and we will continue to do whatever we can to support the community and help New Yorkers."

The multitude of benefits derived from Aqueduct and Belmont Park serving as vaccination centers are the fruits of the latest chapter in the close and long-standing bond between NYRA's two downstate tracks and the community. At times when residents of New York City and Long Island have needed help the most, NYRA has quickly responded and offered invaluable assistance.

In late March, Aqueduct was tapped as a site for a field hospital to help ease overcrowding at nearby hospitals due to the pandemic, but the situation improved before construction could begin.

The following month, a portion of Aqueduct's parking lot was converted into a drive-through COVID-19 testing location that remains operational.

Years earlier, after the devastation of Superstorm Sandy in 2012, NYRA opened the Aqueduct parking lot to the American Red Cross for a mobile feeding kitchen and a staging area for relief supplies.

In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Belmont Park was used as a staging area for emergency vehicles and personnel. That unwavering commitment to lend a helping hand has not gone unnoticed by the community or its political leaders.

"Aqueduct Racetrack is a landmark and an institution that is universally known to the constituents that I represent," said New York State Senator Joseph Addabbo Jr., a lifelong resident of Ozone Park who represents the 15th Senate District. "New York State selected a perfect location for this COVID-19 vaccination site and I applaud them for moving so quickly to transform a racetrack into a vaccination center. This is not the first time the men and women of the New York Racing Association have stepped up to support the community and I also thank them for their efforts to protect and support New Yorkers throughout the pandemic."

While helping its neighbors, NYRA, in coordination with the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association and backstretch assistance programs, have also continued to conduct racing as safely as possible given the current state of affairs.

There have been dark days. A second backstretch worker passed away Jan. 21 when COVID-19 related symptoms claimed the life of Belmont Park resident Raul Sanchez, a 56-year-old employee of trainer John Terranova II and his wife, Tonja, who was also a part-time maintenance worker for NYRA. In early April, the death of Martin Zapata, a groom for trainer Tom Morley, was attributed to complications stemming from coronavirus.

Yet in the days that have passed since late spring, safety measures and protocols enacted by NYRA and embraced by horsemen and workers have been responsible for a surprisingly low number of coronavirus cases. At the end of last week, there were only four backstretch workers who were being treated and quarantined for the virus, none of whom live at the racetrack.

"Between NYTHA, Umberto Chavez of the New York Racetrack Chaplaincy, and Paul Ruchames (executive director of the Backstretch Employee Service Team) everyone has been doing everything they possibly can for people," said Martin Panza, NYRA's senior vice president of racing operations. "For four months we had two calls a day and we still do a call at 5 p.m. to address the barn area. It's been a long 10 months but there's been a lot of cooperation. It's helped us create isolation areas so if someone was sick they had a place to go where they could be fed and have access to medication and doctors, or be hospitalized if they needed it."

Panza was also thankful for important contributions from other individuals, including NYRA board of directors member Marc Holliday who helped forge a strong relationship between NYRA and Northwell Health.

"Marc was instrumental in bringing us together with Northwell, which really helped us with testing in May and June when you couldn't find testing," Panza said. 

Panza also acknowledged NYTHA executive director Will Alempijevic for finding an outlet for face masks when they were desperately needed in the spring.

"Will did an outstanding job of finding masks in China and getting them here when they were in short supply," Panza said.

Panza played a lead role in working with county health officials.

"My end was working with the county health departments," he said. "Now we know who to contact but at first you were calling a number and getting a different story every day. The people at Saratoga Hospital were great to us. They helped us in getting advice and getting people tested so we could race at Saratoga in the summer."

The scope of caring for 550 workers who live at Belmont Park among an average work force of roughly 1,200 was evidenced in a recent NYTHA newsletter that reflected both the volume of work and the vast number of resources that have been necessary to sustain continuous racing since early June.

It reported that 2,469 COVID-19 tests have been administered, 15,000 meals have been distributed to backstretch workers, and 300,000 masks have been given out with an average of 7,000 handed out per week.

That process kicked into top stride during the 80 days when NYRA tracks were closed from March until June with the preparation of a 17-page document listing the safety protocols that convinced regulators to allow racing to resume June 3.

"It was like do you want to get back open? I did a 17-page protocol sheet detailing what we needed to do if we wanted to get back open," Panza said. "We shared our document with the industry and a lot of other tracks based their document on ours. For a while we were in the epicenter of the pandemic. That was the position we found ourselves in. We took the document to the Gaming Commission and then it was up to Dave O'Rourke and our board members reaching out to the governor's office and telling them we believe we can operate and get this mini-economy going again in a safe manner. The teamwork with NYTHA, our safety stewards, who were out there every day, and everyone else led to the acceptance of the protocols, of taking temperatures, socially distancing, and wearing masks and has played a vital role in keeping us open."

Open for racing, and now open as well for the crucial injections of a vaccine that may ultimately shine a bright light toward the end of the pandemic's dark tunnel.