A chat with Leon Zimmerman

by John Berry

Since my first scripture about our grand sport on Feb. 4, 1964 — the week Pompano Park opened — I have been privileged to meet, shake hands, trade stories, and enjoy the company of, probably, a thousand or more sports figures, journalists, and wonderful men and women, each of whom I hold in awe to this very day.

Some were among the elitist of the elite, some were the strongest of the strong, many were just ordinary folk that have taught this humble, elderly gentleman, the importance of realizing that, “you can judge a tree by the fruit it bares or the bark it wears, but you can’t judge a man by the clothes he wears or the skin he bares.”

One gentleman whom I considered among the most interesting and brilliant persons just happened to play a huge role in a number of arenas, including the worlds of sports, entertainment, politics, and, of course, harness racing.

Now in his 80s, Communicators Hall of Fame journalist Leon J. Zimmerman has just completed his story “From Bylines to Storylines,” a fascinating read interweaving all of the above-named trades, and, in doing so, tattooing an indelible mark in his home state of New Jersey and the harness racing world.

Zimmerman and I met in February 1979, upon my arrival in New Jersey and I was able to witness, first, his wizardry on his Royal typewriter and his contributions to harness racing.

He was kind enough to send me an advance copy of his book and award me some of his valuable time as we rekindled our 46-year friendship.

This great scripture takes us back to way-back-when, but our HRU faithful would be particularly interested in your involvement in harness racing, so please let me fast forward a bit to that part of your journey.

“Of course. You know it all really started with my newspaper career at the Bergen Record, which, we’ll get to when you want, but I got a great opportunity to be ‘involved’ in the news, instead of ‘reporting’ the news for more than 12 years.

“A friend of mine — a former newspaper colleague — Andy Baglivo, became the communications director of New Jersey Governor Bill Cahill. One day, he got a hold of me and asked if I might be interested in a new challenge as the Governor had asked him if I might be interested in directing a non-partisan citizens-type campaign for tax reform proposed by the New Jersey Tax Policy Commission. I really was committed to a newspaper career and declined several offers in the past, but if I could get the blessings from my newspaper, I would accept this new challenge. Lo and behold, the Governor sent the former Governor, Richard Hughes to meet with Donald Borg, the publisher of the paper.

“Since the Bergen Record was a staunch supporter of this tax proposal, the request was approved and, soon after, I had a new office for ‘People For Tax Reform,’ which was across from the front door of the New Jersey State House.

“In the end, our efforts were not successful and that was a bitter pill to swallow, but years later, a New York Times reporter interviewed me because of my role in the Cahill administration — so I finally felt my efforts were not in vain.

“The State was facing a financial crises, even worse than before, and needed to try and balance the State budget.

“I was offered a huge opportunity back at the Record but declined for personal reasons (that’s all spelled out in the book), and when the Governor was denied renomination, that’s when I decided to establish my own consulting firm — concentrating on lobbying, public relations, and political campaigns… plus freelance writing for periodicals.”

So when and where does harness racing enter the scene?

“Well, in short order, statewide organizations retained my new firm and I was handling diverse areas such as insurance, security, and harness racing.”

So, this is still the 1970s — kind of early 1970s — where the only harness tracks around were Freehold and Atlantic City, plus a few fair tracks like Cowtown, Millville, and a few others, if memory serves.

“Yes. And shortly after I started the firm, a gentleman visited me by the name of Anthony T. Abbatiello, who was president of the Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association [of New Jersey].”

And they represent?

“Breeders, owners, trainers, and drivers that are involved in our sport of harness racing.

“This was a very fortuitous meeting as I was retained by the SBOANJ to spearhead harness racing’s lobbying and promotional efforts.”

Am I correct that this is a couple of years before The Meadowlands opened?

“Yes. In 1973, legislation passed that led to the creation of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and The Meadowlands Racetrack.

“I worked very closely with them — for 35 years, in fact — through harness racing’s most successful era, and not just in New Jersey. This success encompassed the entire U.S. where harness racing was conducted and Canada, as well.”

Anthony Abbatiello was a very well-respected gentleman in the industry.

“Oh, yes, he was hard-working and dedicated and respected greatly in every stage of his life — from his early military days and heroism in the Korean War — three purple hearts and two bronze stars.

“Many don’t know this, but Anthony Abbatiello learned the ins and outs of the business from Stanley Dancer, eventually reaching that same pinnacle of success, himself.”

“Did I not see a video commercial about The Meadowlands in its infancy with him driving a horse on the George Washington Bridge?”

“Absolutely. He was the ‘star’ — so-to-speak — in the commercial emphasizing just how close The Meadowlands was to New York City. He was all decked out in his racing silks to drive his horse across the bridge at dawn and, later in the morning, the Lincoln Tunnel.”

With all that traffic? Or, maybe it was done during the off hours?

“Drivers were cursing this up and down with the lane closures. The whole thing started at 2 o’clock in the morning and didn’t wrap up until 3 in the afternoon, when he got in the sulky and drove his horse on the runway at Newark Airport alongside a jet plane, no less!”

Those early days at The Big M were fantastic as I, myself, covered events for them and did handicapping seminars and rubbed shoulders with some great publicists — Charlie Singer, Clyde Hirt, Ray Brienza, Jay Bergman among them back then — all hanging out in the press box, .and you.

“The Meadowlands was, indeed, a monumental project.”

How’d it all come together in the first place?

Well, I heard that Governor Cahill had plans to create this sports complex in the Hackensack River meadowlands to include a racetrack to finance a new stadium which would be the home of the New York Giants football team. I was State House bureau chief at that time.

“To verify this, I called the New York [City] office of the Music Corporation of America (MCA) and was able to speak with Sonny Werblin, who was the leader of the project as the ‘chair’ of the New Jersey Sports and Expedition Authority.

“When The Meadowlands opened, it drew a throng of 40,000 and became the greatest harness racetrack in history.

“For the next 30 years or so, I was the lobbyist for The Meadowlands legislation and did public relations work on a daily basis for what became the most successful harness racetrack in North American history.”

I read a chapter in your book about the idea that, “It Could Have Been Jersey Downs.” Tell everyone about that.

“First, the Meadowlands Racetrack, that opened in September 1976, proved to be a financial lifeline for the sports complex and the payoff of the bonds that financed the project, but about nine years earlier, there was a big push by political and business interests to get a track built about a mile or so from where The Meadowlands stands today. The licensing process was just beginning and the name had already been picked out — Jersey Downs.

“I’ll tell you, the book has all the details, but when push came to shove, the voters in the one-time pig farming town of Secaucus, rejected the track plan, with the complacency of the politicians being blamed for defeat of the measure — especially after winning the countywide vote by a wide margin.”

It’s a fascinating book, including the great array of people you have met along this journey.

“Yes, all of the details are, again, in From Bylines to Storylines, and includes some very interesting folk I have met along the way — from the Yankees’ Yogi Berra and Elston Howard to actors Brooke Shields and Paul Sorvino to boxer Floyd Patterson to quarterback Ron Jaworski to President Lyndon Johnson and Premier Alexei Kosygin — many more; it’s been a ride to remember and the book should be available on Amazon in short order.”

May The Horse Be With You