“With the Governor the announcements are never what we think… they’re arbitrary numbers and the details of what it means is not known for days or weeks.” - Saratoga County Chamber President Todd Shimkus in The Daily Gazette.

Truer words were never spoken. The good news that the Governor announced on Wednesday is that New York’s racetracks can open at 20% capacity. The bad news is, no one knows what that means. In the case of the Saratoga racetrack, is that 20% based on seating capacity or the venue’s full capacity (5 times higher than the seating capacity)? And whatever the 20% number is, the Gov said that every person in that group will need to provide either a proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID test. Well if that’s so, then why is the number at 20%? Why not 30%, 40%, 50%? Each increase would mean a significant boost to a community that relies heavily on the dollars connected to those figures. Also, are social distancing and masks necessary if everybody has been vaccinated? I’m sure the Gov will have answers for those questions, and he’ll provide those answers in due time. For most of us, ‘due time’ would mean the actual time of the announcement. For this Gov, ‘due time’ means he’ll get back to you Todd Shimkus, at some point.

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