Elmont has started offering Islanders fans a two-for-one kind of night, and plenty of them are taking it.
With Belmont Park back in action after reopening Sept. 18 from a three-year, $555 million redevelopment, the track has quickly become a pregame stop for fans heading to UBS Arena. On home game days that also line up with race days, anyone with an Islanders ticket can get free general admission to Belmont Park. Before Thursday night’s game against the Kings, that meant an afternoon at the races and then a quick move over to hockey.
Port Jefferson’s Erika Gronenthal and her 12-year-old son Finn were among the fans making the most of it. They came for both horses and hockey, and the setup let them squeeze in both in the same day.
“It’s pretty awesome,” Erika said, “to give us an opportunity to see what this is all about and see the new stadium.”
She also called it “a great deal,” adding, “Hopefully it will get more people interested in either hockey or horses.”
The Belmont offer is simple enough, but only if fans know where to look. They have to check the Islanders’ game-day email, find the link, and enter the promo code. On Thursday, though, plenty of people at the track admitted they had no idea the perk existed.
That was true for Staten Island’s John Guiffre, who has followed the Islanders since 1978. He paid $20 total for two Belmont Park tickets and said Thursday was his first visit to the new track and his first Islanders game of the season. Once he learned about the admission deal, he was sold on doing it again.
“Well, if I knew that, yeah, why not?” he said.
“I don’t mind betting the horses. I like betting the horses, period.
But I figured let’s make a day of it, and we’ll come here and I got the tickets for the game tonight.”
Philadelphia’s Chris Giangrasso had a similar reaction. He came up with his wife, Kate, and met friends from Connecticut who share his interest in both sports and racing.
“I think it’s fantastic,” he said. “In Philly, we kind of have something similar because the ballparks are close together and they have some entertainment area in between.
You can do similar things in other cities, so it’s nice that they’re doing it here. But combining going to the track and then going to a hockey game I think makes this unique, and they did a great job from what I’ve seen so far.”
Mark Ponemon, a Queens native now living in New Jersey, was at the races with his two brothers and liked the idea enough that he said the free admission attached to an Islanders ticket would bring him back to “spend the day.”
Belmont’s general admission normally runs $7 in advance and $10 at the gate this fall. The free offer does not cover parking, though, and that part can complicate the equation.
General admission parking in the Silver lot costs $8.38 in advance and $10 on the day. The Ponemons said they were warned they could face a $150 fine if they stayed in that lot through the Islanders game, so they left the car in a nearby neighborhood instead. Giangrasso had a different workaround, saying he was able to park in the Emerald lot for the full day and that “not many people know that secret.”
For some season-ticket holders, the track has already become routine. Michelle Aileen and Colleen Smith of Brooklyn said Thursday marked their third or fourth time this season at Belmont before an Islanders game, and they expect to keep doing it.
“This is what we plan on doing now before every game,” Aileen said. “We’re learning the culture. Everyone’s been very nice and friendly and welcoming.”
Said Smith: “It’s something to do before the game. They’ve been giving us free tickets on game days, so we’re like, well, we’re going to be here early anyway, probably. So why not stop in and see?”
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