A new stand is also planned for Aqueduct.
He also called for a significant expansion of gambling, by allowing thousands of video gambling machines at Belmont racetrack in addition to thousands planned for Aqueduct.
After plans for Aqueduct were derailed a couple more times — one company failed to come up with its promised $370 million payment — Governor Paterson, a Democrat, selected a consortium in January called the Aqueduct Entertainment Group from among six bidders.
Had the self-taught engineer and former Los Angeles mayor made it clear to the landowners that he was planning an aqueduct to a distant city, they might have refused to sell — or at least would have jacked up their prices to reflect the value to L.A. of their water.
(Other companies are bidding for the Aqueduct gambling concession; the Shinnecocks' plan dwarfs the rest).
Shipping to Aqueduct for the Gotham is Plan C. "I'm using the Gotham to get him to the Wood Memorial and the Wood Memorial to get him to the Kentucky Derby," McGaughey said.
Connecticut's Mohegan tribe, which operates the giant Mohegan Sun resort and casino, is part of a bidding group called Capital Play, which has an ambitious plan to transform Aqueduct over the next several years into a Mohegan-style entertainment complex.
He planned on being at Aqueduct again on Thursday, then hoofing it to Yonkers Raceway on Friday.
Genting plans to refurbish the drab Aqueduct building, creating a three-story gambling hall with an elevated passageway to the nearby subway stop.
"Rotten in Ozone Park" (editorial, Aug. 13) expressed concern over the gambling operator selection process, specifically that the public has no way of knowing how developers plan to make over the decaying Aqueduct racetrack.
Desperate for revenue, the state has put plans to develop a racino at Aqueduct on the fast track.
