One such event occurred in 1902 when Barney Oldfield set a one-mile (1.6 km) record in an automobile at Empire City Race Track.

[1] The facility was purchased by New York grocery store magnate James Butler, who reopened it for Thoroughbred horse racing in 1907.

Its popularity having greatly declined since the 1960s (when crowds would occasionally reach 50,000), the entire property, according to some, had become an eyesore due to its owners leaving it in a state of disrepair.

There was consideration on selling the site to the National Football League’s New York Jets which would have included a stadium; however, the plan was shelved after the environmental impact statement showed there would be significant traffic from elsewhere in the metropolitan area, and there was not enough political support for it.

In 2015, Yonkers Raceway applied for permission from the New York State Gaming Commission to relocate its finish line back by approximately 100 feet.

[8] Despite a "soft opening", with no major advertising or promotional campaigns, Yonkers netted $3.8 million in revenue in its first week, outpacing its nearest competitor, Saratoga Casino and Raceway, by two-thirds.

[9] The second phase of the project, which opened on December 28, 2006, added 120,000 square feet (11,000 m2) of space to bring the total number of slot machines to 4,000.

Because the facility falls under state lottery laws, the minimum age to play the slot machines at Empire City is 18, unlike the other area casinos, where it is 21.

[11] The expansion featured a porte-cochere sculptural entrance; the largest window in the Northeast, a 300-foot-long and 27-foot-high depiction of the New York City skyline made entirely of nails; a new gaming floor with nearly 700 slot machines; and two new restaurants.

[17] The final of the 2007 Art Rooney Pace, run on June 2, 2007, was the richest race in Yonkers history, with a $1 million purse.