Christopher Maione ’82 Brings Leading-Edge Technology to Iconic Venues
From the new Belmont Park racetrack to Moynihan Train Hall and some of the world’s most recognizable corporate towers, Christopher Maione ’82 has spent more than four decades bringing ambitious technology projects to life. As the AV expert overseeing Belmont Park’s modernization, he’s helping prepare one of horse racing’s most historic venues for its next chapter.
It’s late August, and the clock is ticking down to the grand reopening of the new Belmont Park racetrack in Elmont, New York, on September 18. New York Governor Kathy Hochul along with 6,000 other VIPs and horse racing fans will attend the “soft opening” for this day at the races. So Christopher Maione ’82 — the senior project manager whose job is to make sure that all low-voltage technologies, including the systems that support sound, video, even the photo finish line cameras, are working — has been at it non-stop.
“The excitement is seeing it all come together,” he says. “We’re turning things on, and the grandstand is coming to life.”
At Belmont, he’s the technology subject matter expert in charge of managing the implementation of all low-voltage technologies: the six-story Infield LED video board, the Paddock 320-foot “ribbon” LED display, Wi-Fi, cellular, security and the entire converged network system which supports all the technologies. These include the array of cameras focused on the finish line that capture 40,000 images per second plus more than 600 TV displays that flash race statistics, horse metrics and the all-important betting odds.
A general aviation pilot, he also flies over Belmont Park and takes progress photos as the construction proceeds.
Growing up right next to Belmont in Floral Park, Long Island, Maione and his friends would jump the fence to watch the races. Working on this project is a full-circle moment, he says; it feels good to be back in the neighborhood.
“It’s without a doubt a cool venue,” he says. “It’s an historic venue, too. Belmont racetrack has a great, rich history not only in horse racing but in early aviation as well.”
The new $550 million modernization of the racetrack, which originally opened in 1905 and hosts the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the Triple Crown, will make it a world-class venue, Maione says. The project is one of the highlights of this technology expert and consultant’s 40-year career.
Walk through Moynihan Train Hall in Penn Station, New York, and see the lively video walls of advertisements wrapping around the grand hall, their most beautiful at night and in their festive Christmas decorations. That’s thanks to Maione, who managed the implementation of the station’s video and sound systems.
With hundreds of clients over his career — many Fortune 500 and Global 1000 companies such as Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, Bloomberg, Pfizer, IBM, Microsoft — Maione has worked within practically every industry, from finance to technology, healthcare and education. Some of Manhattan’s most notable towers — the Bank of America building, the Barclay’s Tower, the Hearst Tower — contain technologies that he helped to design and manage through to completion, including large-format video displays, microphones, speakers, videoconferencing systems and other tech. The founder of two consulting firms, Maione has also worked in London on the Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley and HSBC towers.
And he’s been in the same room with some of world’s great architects on extraordinary projects: Cesar Pelli and the World Financial Center; Norman Foster at the Hearst Tower and others.
This construction industry veteran can tell a good story. There was the time that he and his team needed to install a 103-inch plasma flat panel on the top floor of a building in Chicago for MillerCoors. The stairway was not wide enough, so they rented a helicopter and lowered the display through the roof. He recalls corporate boardrooms embedded with sophisticated microphones and cameras and futuristic, crystal-clear video screens, right out of a James Bond movie.
He says that his path at Stevens was paved by mentors. Naturally inclined toward engineering, he followed his cousin, Steven Bivone ’75, to Castle Point. When he was a student, Mario Maltese M.Eng. ’72 hired him at his firm, Tamco Systems, and taught him the inroads to the AV industry. Maione later encouraged his nephew, Steven Koch ’12, to attend Stevens.
At Stevens, Maione joined Chi Phi fraternity and was always tinkering with old TVs, stereos and LED lighting around the fraternity house. “It was tough,” he says of his time at Stevens. “I worked hard. I think it paid off.” Maione is still in touch with some fellow Stevens alumni and works with several today. At Belmont Park, he works with Patrick Reilly ’08 and Brian Weldon ’11, both with AECOM Tishman, the construction manager for the project.
His love of his work is evident.
“I design cool technology in amazing buildings,” he says. He enjoys the challenge of keeping up with the latest technology, which is always changing in his field.
Maione advises students to discover what they’re truly interested in and excited about as early as possible, and to work as hard as they can to turn it into a career. Career networking will be key throughout their career. “Integrity always counts,” he says. “And surround yourself with great people.”
