Woody Allen thinks Mayor Bloomberg’s recommendation of a ride on the Staten Island Ferry for a first date isn’t a bad option, but personally he prefers the horses. “I always took my first dates out to the racetrack, you know, out to Belmont,” the lifelong New Yorker told Daily Intel at Wednesday’s amfAR gala. As with most of Allen’s romantic preoccupations, Belmont showed up in his professional life, too; he filmed there for both Mighty Aphrodite and Melinda and Melinda. “It just worked out very well for me; it was a very good first date,” Allen said cheerfully. “But the Staten Island Ferry is also quite good,” he added diplomatically.
Did the Academy Award–winning filmmaker impress his dates by betting on winning horses? “No, but it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter.”
