The Last Goodbye

Two weeks ago, Aqueduct Racetrack closed permanently. If you are not interested in horse racing – and the sport has declined precipitously from its peak before World War II – it was possible to live in New York and not know that Aqueduct existed. Its location in southern Queens is out of the way unless you’re heading to JFK airport, the disappearance of Off-Track Betting parlors killed TV coverage of its races, and whatever attention non-fans pay to horse racing here tends to go to the track at Belmont, which is just outside the city line. Aqueduct in happier times…probably the 1920s. One of the reasons this blog goes on is that facts like that immediately raise questions for me such as “how many horse tracks have there been within the city limits?” particularly now that the answer is “none.” Fortunately, there’s a Wikipedia page just for that question here: “Defunct horse racing venues in New York City.” It feels cruel that Aqueduct is already on that page, but it is accurate. Some I…