Belmont Park ran its first races in more than three years on Sept. 18. The thoroughbred track sits just over the city line in Elmont, and the fall meet is open now through Dec. 6 — racing Thursday through Sunday, with tickets starting at $7.

  • The dates: live racing Thursdays through Sundays through Dec. 6. On a typical race day the doors open two hours before the first post, which this Thursday means gates around 11:10 a.m. for a 1:10 p.m. card.
  • The price: general admission is $7 in advance and $10 at the gate. Grandstand seats run $50 and come with a $25 food and beverage credit. All fall-meet tickets are on sale at nyra.com/belmont/tickets.
  • Getting there: the LIRR drops at Elmont-UBS Arena station daily; the MTA Q2 and Q82 and the NICE N6 buses stop nearby; there is parking on site, with assigned lots off the Cross Island Parkway.
  • What changed: outside alcohol and coolers are banned. You can still bring food and one non-alcoholic, non-glass drink in a permitted bag, and alcohol is sold inside. Also prohibited: glass of any kind, folding chairs, hard-sided bags, and bags bigger than 16" x 8" x 16".
  • What $455 million bought: a five-story glass-walled grandstand, a paddock that puts fans closer to the horses, a synthetic Tapeta track for winter racing, and roughly five times more green space.

The cooler ban is the thing to know before you go, because packing your own drinks was the way people did Belmont for decades. The track had been tightening the rules before it closed, and now it is official: no outside booze, no ice chests. Show up with a cooler and you will be walking it back to the car.

The trade is still a good one. Seven dollars to walk into a rebuilt grandstand on a Thursday afternoon, bring your own sandwiches, watch eight races, and get home on the LIRR is close to the cheapest full day out left in the region — cheaper than a movie, and the horses are better looking. The track is also pitching itself as a concert and entertainment venue, so the fall meet is the last stretch where horse racing is the whole point.