Thanks for sharing your first hand experience. But what a sad tale, though not terribly uncommon.
I hope the place doesn’t become more McMansions.
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I had no idea the Entenmann’s were once in horses! I was just discussing what a fixture those baked goods were in the tristate area.
I wonder if the barn is heated? I assume the groom’s apartments have a heating source. (Hence the need for fire prevention technology.)
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The barn wasn’t heated but the lounge, office and apartments have heat.
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I assumed the sprinkler piping in the barn itself is a dry pipe system.
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As a boarder, been evicted twice. Once had to go to the fairgounds to claim horse and tack as that property and everything in or on it was siezed and padlocked. Trainers leasing stalls with a lawyer clients got together and quickly got an injunction to allow removal of all client horses and equipment to a neutral site where owners could ID and reclaim. We had no idea, property owner turned out to be a swindler, tax cheat and ran lord knows what other fraud schemes.
Other time was drama free and trainer always had a Plan B in mind as she never trusted the property owner…who suddenly sold the place right out from under her. The new owners evicted us when they closed and took possession of the property. Trainer spent all night hauling everybody to Plan B barn, called us in the AM to advise horses were in new location.
Imagine this LI eviction was no accident but a calculated attempt to get rid of the horses and maximize the land worth to developers. Not fixing anything is a pretty common way for sleazy landlords to rid themselves of tenants, leased barn space is no different with property values so high.
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I would assume the opposite. There are many for facilities for people in that area than horses.
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I’m not familiar with Long Island, so I will certainly defer to anyone with more experience on the demographics. And certainly it is no easy feat to find a place to move multiple horses within 24 hours. But, in a pinch, layover facilities exist, you put the tack trunk and the saddles in the trailer or take them home and lock them up, push comes to shove horses can live in a field for a couple of days. If you are a person, possibly with a family, it is more complicated to arrange a storage locker and move all your stuff in 24 hours, much less sign a lease and move in… particularly if you were also involved in the logistics to move all the horses.
I hope everyone finds a new home they are happy in.
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Long Island is a very urban area so finding a field to stash a horse in or a layover facility is not necessarily easy nor cheap.
You can much more easily and cheaply get a storage facility ($40/month in that area) and a cheap motel room ($40/night in that area).
Basic board in that area is about $1200/month (from the one website of the several I visited that would give rates on the site) so daily that is $40/day, assuming that is the daily rate and you can find a place that will do daily rate. I don’t even know of layover facilities in my area but I can find boarding for about $300/month if I just want a field, but just a field is not really an option in Long Island due to how urban of an area it is.
I have never lived in the area but have transported horses to that area and grass and fields are rare. Almost all horses have stalls, hay year round and go out in dirt paddocks. The few horses that do not have been lesson horses and they live in a dirt paddock with a run in.
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Most of the towns here in Maine have combinantion of call firefighters and volunteers with a few full-time professionals. The BO where we boarded for years had the fire dept in every year or two for an inspection. They could understand and review the barn layout and what was involved in evacuating horses, starting with halters hung at every stall door, They also suggested changes to the location of fire extinguishers and better placement of smoke alarms near hay storage.
OMG! I just saw this thread. I was researching to see of the Old Westbury Horsemen’s Foundation has an email–trying to reach board members on what seems to be an inactive charity. Rumor has it that actual reason why the fire marshalls were called the was because the residents were not happy with what was happening there. Here’s an article from when the eviction happened: https://nypost.com/2022/10/06/erotic-photography-studio-riles-residents-in-old-westbury/. I also think it was only 1 of 2 barns that was closed. Local equestrians like me will fight to keep the facility an equestrian facility. No more McMansions. We need to preserve open space just like Nassau Equestrian Center at Old Mill protected years ago!
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So what is going on there now? Did they rectify the problems and move the horses and people back in?
And welcome to the BB! 
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That link is not safe for work.
TL;DR for folks: A photographer is/was renting the house (possibly without a business license/permit) and was specializing in boudoir photos (woman-centric photos, often in lingerie, not explicit). Most of the photos seemed to be inside the mansion and not connected to the riding operation, even in the background, but people seem offended to be within several hundred yards of someone who might be wearing less clothes than them. The article’s author also seemed in a huff because some of the photography clients had an only fans accounts and any connection to sex work is icky to to the author.
It seems rather puritanical to me, but not my barn, not my town.
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I’d still like to know what the final outcome was. Is it just a field of McMansions now? I hope not.
It is still a farm. I think they got the barn that was condemned up to code. And I believe the boudoir business left.
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So are there horses back in that barn again? Did the same horses come back?
I used to board my horse at a small backyard stable that bordered the property back in the 80s. One of my favorite memories was riding the trails out there and jumping those cool jumps they had - stone wall, coops, banks, ditches, etc. I believe one of the Wilson Tech horse programs operated out of Old Westbury, I would see them riding in that giant pasture/field on occasion. Hope they get it sorted out.
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What was being done there and what the newspaper reported are not 100% clear. I heard horses were used without owner’s permission. That is from people that were there. But who knows–always 3 sides to every story and I personally did not see it. As of now there are new operators. I heard they are investing money and doing a great job. I am involved with a local horsemen’s association and the land trust and I can say that both organizations would be very opposed and very vocal about anyone trying to McMansion the property.
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Yay! Good to know. Thanks.
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oh my gosh! I know exactly what barn you are talking about because the summer of 88 I worked there for the Entemanns, there were two separate sides to it. I worked on the side with the mares and foals and weanlings. The farm was STUNNING. I used to have to hand rake that courtyard 
It had one giant field for broodmares and then some smaller grass pastures for the babies. The other side was the training side. I should dig up my photos. It was the best summer and I probably do not want to see the property now because I am sure it would be so depressing.
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