EDITORIAL: SARATOGA SPRINGS SHOULD SHUT DOWN BROADWAY AND OTHER STREETS FOR WHITNEY AND TRAVERS STAKES

 

At the end of June, the Saratoga Springs City Council yielded to pressure from the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce and closed part of Henry Street in the Spa City so several restaurants could expand their outdoor seating.  An article in Saratoga Living noted “….Scallions, Henry Street Taproom, Flatbread Social and Saratoga Paint and Sip could set up outdoor, socially distanced sidewalk seating that extends into the street.”

This move, while perhaps a bit slow for some, was nonetheless lauded by the affected business owners.  It says on this page that Saratoga Springs should help as many local businesses as possible and close down other streets, including on a few occasions Broadway, to allow restaurants to expand their seating options and draw patrons.  Fans dining on Broadway and elsewhere on the track’s biggest days could give these suffering business a much-needed boost and create the festive atmosphere that won’t occur anywhere along spectator-free Union Avenue in 2020.

Yes, closing Broadway is a big deal and requires permission from the state.  There are, nonetheless, occasions when Saratoga Springs does in fact obtain permission from the powers in Albany to shut down our main thoroughfare to host a civic event.  Parades, The Victorian Streetwalk, The Firecracker 4 and a number of other events have been instances when Broadway, which is also State Routes 9 and 50, are shut down and traffic is rerouted.  The same should be done for The Travers and Whitney Stakes, and possibly even Labor Day weekend when Saratoga races will be held at the same time as a certain derby in the State of Kentucky.

In any other year, there would of course be no need for such an effort as most horse fans would much rather be in the center of it all: Saratoga Race Course.  2020, of course, is not a normal year, and even if NYRA convinces the state to allow fans into the track this year (a long shot at best), it would still be done at significantly-reduced capacity.

This is just a seed of an idea, as many details would have to be worked out, such as restaurants finding ways to arrange cover for customers from the sun and rain, finding economical ways to show the races on screens (here’s a thought: bring your ipad folks), and ensuring the crowds are limited to ensure safe distancing. But Broadway is a wide and spacious street, so in addition to dining there might be room for some live music.  A scaled-down version of the sadly-abolished Hats Off and Final Stretch festivals of years past would make sense and just be darn fun.

So here’s hoping, and encouraging, the Saratoga Springs City Council and the State of New York take steps to make this happen.  This centers around helping our business community, but it’s more than that.  Perhaps a fun festival along social-distance-friendly Broadway and other Saratoga streets will give people a reason to get out of the house and enjoy some horse racing and being downtown in our beautiful city on one or two days during this very unique summer.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Saratoga Living made a commentary similar to this one in May, 2020 which can be found here