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SJ.com gathering at/around the Belmont

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by imjustagirl, May 26, 2008.

Page 4 of 9
  1. Ben_Hecht

    Ben_Hecht Active Member


    Second that GET THERE EARLY . . . be parked at the gates, BEFORE they open . . . and strive to achieve parking in the preferred area in front of the main gates, by any means necessary -- and that includes ignoring parking attendants who try to tell you "You can't go there".

    Bull. Shit.
     
    Ben_Hecht, May 27, 2008
    #37
  2. Ben_Hecht

    Ben_Hecht Active Member


    I've done the subway/bus thing, going out . . . as described . . . and it's fine . . . but ONLY when one can viably use the LIRR, going back . . . and that's a very
    difficult kettle of fish, on this day.

    Leaving the track to return to the Times Square area by car really isn't that bad.
    I've done it on several Belmont days, and heart failure was never a question.
     
    Ben_Hecht, May 27, 2008
    #38
  3. imjustagirl

    imjustagirl Active Member

    Well, here's the thing.

    I've had a friend on the UES offer to let me stay with her, rendering my car obsolete. I can take Amtrak up for $148 round trip, save gas money, and just take the trains everywhere.

    So yeah...that's my option. Anyone else going that wants to drive? Congrats. I'll see you there!
     
    imjustagirl, May 27, 2008
    #39
  4. Ben_Hecht

    Ben_Hecht Active Member

    Gotta love it.
     
    Ben_Hecht, May 27, 2008
    #40
  5. imjustagirl

    imjustagirl Active Member

    Sarcasm? Or serious?
     
    imjustagirl, May 27, 2008
    #41
  6. Ben_Hecht

    Ben_Hecht Active Member


    Serious. If you have access to digs on the Yupper East Side for this engagement, it's an enormous advantage. Well-done.
     
    Ben_Hecht, May 27, 2008
    #42
  7. imjustagirl

    imjustagirl Active Member

    Said friend has connections and can try to get us Yankees tickets for Friday night. Anyone who's DEFINITELY in for that night, let me know in the next 24 hours if you can, please.
     
    imjustagirl, May 27, 2008
    #43
  8. trifectarich

    trifectarich Well-Known Member

    It'll take you 45 minutes to get out of the parking lot and you'll spend another 45 minutes navigating the first 3 miles out of the track. Been there, done that. LIRR can be OK if you get a seat, but that train leaving the track is a mass of humanity and not all of it very nice.
     
    trifectarich, May 27, 2008
    #44
  9. Ben_Hecht

    Ben_Hecht Active Member

    Hempstead Turnpike, to the LIE, to the Lincoln Tunnel.

    You get in the flow and catch half a break, it's not that bad.

    Though will acknowledge that past experiences do not guarantee future results.
     
    Ben_Hecht, May 27, 2008
    #45
  10. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Please listen to Ben. I make a day of it for the Belmont most years. A few years ago, I tried to do it by train. It was the biggest nightmare ever. I had to get out of there that year quickly and be somewhere else in Manhattan and I thought by taking the train, I'd cut any of the headache (but much smaller headache) of driving there. I have never seen such a mass of people moving that slowly for a small station for limited spots on not enough trains. I was body to body with people and we weren't moving anywhere closer to the train and even with that claustrophic/afraid of being trampled nightmare, it took forever to get back.

    If you are able, drive it. You will thank Ben. This year with the Triple Crown possibility, there will be a Smarty Jones-sized crowd there if the weather is anywhere near decent. Expect 100,000 to 110,000 people....
     
    The Big Ragu, May 27, 2008
    #46
  11. Ben_Hecht

    Ben_Hecht Active Member


    I'm willing to be corrected, but eyewitness reports told me that the last trains didn't get away from Belmont last year until after 9 PM. And I guarantee you that Ragu's Bataan-death-march descriptions of the (OH, THE) humanity are not inaccurate.

    The time sacrificed by driving there, early, can be recaptured with a snappy exit.

    I have no doubt that the best way to go to Belmont this year will be via helicopter, but not many of us can access that option.
     
    Ben_Hecht, May 27, 2008
    #47
  12. imjustagirl

    imjustagirl Active Member

    Um, isn't the race at like 6?

    Do you people REALLY consider three hours a hardship?

    Jeebus. I'd much rather wait three hours, hop on a train or two and end up in Midtown than drive there, fight roads I don't know, people I don't know, just to park at some other place, then hop a train and end up in Midtown.
     
    imjustagirl, May 27, 2008
    #48
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