Friday, September 30, 2011

anything Natalie Portman can do Nassau OTB interns can do better?

Interns, Unpaid by a Studio, File Suit

Two men who worked on the hit movie “Black Swan” have mounted an unusual challenge to the film industry’s widely accepted practice of unpaid internships by filing a lawsuit on Wednesday asserting that the production company had violated minimum wage and overtime laws by hiring dozens of such interns.
Marcus Yam for The New York Times
“If you want to get your foot in the door on a studio picture, you have to suck it up and do an unpaid internship.” ERIC GLATT, 42 An accounting intern for “Black Swan.”
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Manhattan, claims that Fox Searchlight Pictures, the producer of “Black Swan,” had the interns do menial work that should have been done by paid employees and did not provide them with the type of educational experience that labor rules require in order to exempt employers from paying interns.
“Fox Searchlight’s unpaid interns are a crucial labor force on its productions, functioning as production assistants and bookkeepers and performing secretarial and janitorial work,” the lawsuit says. “In misclassifying many of its workers as unpaid interns, Fox Searchlight has denied them the benefits that the law affords to employees.” Workplace experts say the number of unpaid internships has grown in recent years, in the movie business and many other industries. Some young people complain that these internships give an unfair edge to the affluent and well connected.
One plaintiff, Alex Footman, a 2009 Wesleyan graduate who majored in film studies, said he had worked as a production intern on “Black Swan” in New York from October 2009 to February 2010.
He said his responsibilities included preparing coffee for the production office, ensuring that the coffee pot was full, taking and distributing lunch orders for the production staff, taking out the trash and cleaning the office.
“The only thing I learned on this internship was to be more picky in choosing employment opportunities,” Mr. Footman, 24, said in an interview. “ ‘Black Swan’ had more than $300 million in revenues. If they paid us, it wouldn’t make a big difference to them, but it would make a huge difference to us.”
Russell Nelson, a Fox Searchlight spokesman, said Wednesday afternoon, “We just learned of this litigation and have not had a chance to review it so we cannot make any comment at this time.”
The lawsuit is seeking class-action status for what the plaintiffs say were more than 100 unpaid interns on various Fox Searchlight productions. In addition to seeking back pay under federal and state wage laws, the lawsuit seeks an injunction barring Fox Searchlight from improperly using unpaid interns.
Fox Searchlight acted illegally, the lawsuit asserts, because the company did not meet the federal labor department’s criteria for unpaid internships. Those criteria require that the position benefit the intern, that the intern not displace regular employees, that the training received be similar to what would be given in an educational institution and that the employer derive no immediate advantage from the intern’s activities.
Movie companies have defended using unpaid interns, saying the internships are educational, highly coveted and an important way for young people to break into the industry. Lawyers for numerous companies say the Labor Department’s criteria are obsolete, adding that department officials rarely enforce the rules against unpaid internships.
The other named plaintiff, Eric Glatt, 42, who has an M.B.A. from Case Western Reserve University, was an accounting intern for “Black Swan.” He prepared documents for purchase orders and petty cash, traveled to the set to obtain signatures on documents and created spreadsheets to track missing information in employee personnel file.
Mr. Glatt, who had been working at A.I.G. training new employees, said he took the position because he wanted to move into the film industry.
“When I started looking for opportunities in the industry, I saw that most people accept an ugly trade-off,” he said. “If you want to get your foot in the door on a studio picture, you have to suck it up and do an unpaid internship.”
Adam Klein, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said this would be the first of several lawsuits that seek to fight these internships.
“Unpaid interns are usually too scared to speak out and to bring such a lawsuit because they are frightened it will hurt their chances of finding future jobs in their industry,” he said.
Mr. Footman said he was sticking his neck out because “I hope this case will hold the industry to a higher standard and will get rid of this practice.”

Andrew Cuomo can't count or spell free or the OTBs would be open 365

days of the year when tracks are running all across the United States that people want to bet!

NY Const. Art. 1, Sec. 3  not every read by Andrew Cuomo m
Editorial

A Bad Union Vote

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration sent notices on Wednesday to 3,496 state employees that their jobs would be eliminated in 21 days. For that bad news, the workers can thank their union. On Tuesday, the New York State Public Employees Federation, representing 56,000 state employees, rejected a fair five-year contract that would have frozen base wages for three years and raised employee contributions to health coverage.
Union leaders should ask the membership to vote again. They would be wise to agree to the concessions that the Civil Service Employees Association, representing 66,000 other state workers, already accepted and make sense in this economy. The contract includes 2 percent wage increases in the fourth and fifth years and comes with a promise of no layoffs for the next two years. There would be modest automatic pay increases for most workers. But the employee health care contribution, which has not changed in 30 years, would rise to 31 percent from 25 percent for higher-paid workers with family coverage; lower-paid workers would face a smaller increase.
The union leaders have said that they want to return to the bargaining table, a step the Cuomo administration should resist. Renegotiating with the Public Employees Federation would probably mean revisiting the contract with the Civil Service Employees Association.
Federation members grumbled that it is unfair for Governor Cuomo to demand sacrifices from them while giving wealthier New Yorkers a break by allowing a surcharge on higher-income earners to expire at the end of the year. Mr. Cuomo should work to extend that tax. But that issue does not affect the need to contain state labor costs, a reality that other public unions have accepted.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

update your calendar

Meeting Of Nassau OTB's Board-Of-Directors Has Been Cancelled
Date:
09/30/2011

Time:
11:00 AM

Description:
The public meeting of the BOARD OF DIRECTORS of the NASSAU OFF-TRACK BETTING CORPORATION scheduled for Friday, September 30, 2011 has been cancelled.

humbleness and the ability to seek a higher authority

A lawyer is nothing but a high priced errand boy. Nevertheless, at least in theory it might be possible to find person in the State of New York with the capacity to request a Formal or Informal Opinion from the Attorney General that will tell us that:
1. NY PML Sec 105 is not constitutionally defensible.
2. NY PML Sec 105 does not apply to the OTBs
3  NY PML Sec 105 violates the rights of New York State Bettors secured by NY Const. Art. 1, Sec. 3.
(this even includes NY State employed or unemployed civil service or other union member bettors)

4. NY PML Sec 105 is vague, indefinite and/or overly broad. Different religious calendars define different days to be Easter Sunday in most years.

Forget for a moment that the Directors of the OTBs have a fiduciary duty to the corporation.












 Home New York State Unified Court System
 
 

 
 
 
 

Attorney Detail
as of 09/28/2011
 
Registration Number: 3982352
   

ROBERT WILLIAM HEMSWORTH

CAPITAL DISTRICT REGIONAL OFF- TRACK BETTING CORPORATION

510 SMITH ST

SCHENECTADY, NY 12305-2488

United States

(518) 344-5298


   
Year Admitted in NY: 2001
Appellate Division Department of Admission: 3
Law School: ALBANY LAW SCHOOL
Registration Status: Currently registered
Next Registration: Mar 2013

The Detail Report above contains information that has been provided by the attorney listed, with the exception of REGISTRATION STATUS, which is generated from the OCA database. Every effort is made to insure the information in the database is accurate and up-to-date.
The good standing of an attorney and/or any information regarding disciplinary actions must be confirmed with the appropriate Appellate Division Department. Information on how to contact the Appellate Divisions of the Supreme Court in New York is available at www.nycourts.gov/courts.
If the name of the attorney you are searching for does not appear, please try again with a different spelling. In addition, please be advised that attorneys listed in this database are listed by the name that corresponds to their name in the Appellate Division Admissions file. There are attorneys who currently use a name that differs from the name under which they were admitted. If you need additional information, please contact the NYS Office of Court Administration, Attorney Registration Unit at 212-428-2800.
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back to top
www.NYCOURTS.gov

capitalotbmarketing@capitalotb.com , below should be on their site?

Public Hearing of the New York State Senate Committee on Racing, Gaming
& Wagering

October 5, 2011 – 12:00 PM – 2:30 PM

October 5, 2011: Nassau County Office Building, Legislative Chamber,
1550 Franklin Ave., Mineola, NY 11501

WITNESS LIST

1. Steven Crist, Editor & Publisher Emeritus, Daily Racing Form

2. Michael Speller and Christian Good, Resorts World New York

3. Panel:
a. Joseph G. Cairo, Jr., President, Nassau Regional Off-Track Betting
Corporation
b. Jeff Casale, President, Suffolk Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation
c. John Signor, President & CEO, Capital Off-Track Betting Corporation
(questions only for Mr. Signor).


4. Rick Violette, President, New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s
Association, Inc.

5. Lenny Allen, President Local 2021, DC 37 and Barry Yomtov, President,
Local 858, International Brotherhood of Teamsters

6. Charles Hayward, President & CEO, New York Racing Association



Public Hearing: To develop potential ... - New York State Senate

www.nysenate.gov/.../oct/.../develop-potential-legislation-enhance-ra...Cached
Oct. 5 Senate Standing Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wagering Chair ...

customerservice@nassauotb.com

Teamsters Local 858 does not have a website nor has it disseminated the below meeting notice to its members. Perhaps customerservice@nassauotb.com can help by adding the notice and links to its website so that bettors et al can come and hear President Joseph G Cairo.

October 5, 2011 – 12:00 PM – 2:30 PM

October 5, 2011: Nassau County Office Building, Legislative Chamber,
1550 Franklin Ave., Mineola, NY 11501

WITNESS LIST

1. Steven Crist, Editor & Publisher Emeritus, Daily Racing Form

2. Michael Speller and Christian Good, Resorts World New York

3. Panel:
a. Joseph G. Cairo, Jr., President, Nassau Regional Off-Track Betting
Corporation

b. Jeff Casale, President, Suffolk Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation
c. John Signor, President & CEO, Capital Off-Track Betting Corporation
(questions only for Mr. Signor).

4. Rick Violette, President, New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s
Association, Inc.

5. Lenny Allen, President Local 2021, DC 37 and Barry Yomtov, President,
Local 858, International Brotherhood of Teamsters

6. Charles Hayward, President & CEO, New York Racing Association

and if Cuomo asked Attorney General Eric Schneiderman for an Opinion,

a free Opinion, he would learn that NY PML Sec 105 does not apply to the OTBs and is not constitutionally defensible and violates the rights of fired  horse betting union members secured by NY Const.Art. 1, Sec. 3.

Then he could go to Church while bettors go to OTB and bet.

Gov. Cuomo begins process to lay off 3,500 workers after union rejects tentative contract

Originally Published:Tuesday, September 27th 2011, 3:40 PM
Updated: Wednesday, September 28th 2011, 9:41 AM
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has a fight on his hands with the Public Employees Federation.
Julia Xanthos/News
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has a fight on his hands with the Public Employees Federation.

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More Lost Jobs

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ALBANY - Gov. Cuomo began the process to lay off 3,500 workers Tuesday night after the state's second-largest employee union rejected a tentative contract that would have avoided job cuts.
Cuomo urged Public Employees Federation members to reconsider, while a top administration official slammed union leaders and warned layoffs would start promptly unless a new vote was scheduled.
"We spent months working with PEF's leadership and reached an agreement," said Director of State Operations Howard Glaser. "We now find out that they do not truly represent their membership."
Glaser blamed the contract's defeat on the failure of PEF leaders to "effectively communicate" the deal's benefits to members.
Layoff notices went out to PEF workers late yesterday and take effect in 21 days, another administration official said.
PEF spokeswoman Darcy Wells said it's too early to say if union leaders would schedule a new vote, but noted the overwhelming message from the membership was that the contract was unacceptable.
Earlier in the day, Union President Ken Brynien said PEF members "clearly feel they are being asked to sacrifice more than others, particularly in light of the pending expiration of the state's millionaire's tax."
Brynien called on Cuomo to return to the bargaining table.
Union members voted, 54% to 46%, to reject the five-year deal that called for employees to forgo raises for the first three years and accept 2% increases in each of the final two years. The deal, announced over the summer, also called for union members to pay more for health insurance.
"There are just so many bad things about it financially," said one PEF member as she left work. "It was a bad, bad contract."
The union represents 56,000 professional scientific and technical workers.
The state's largest public employees union, the Civil Service Employees Association, ratified a similar agreement last month.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) said he was disappointed by the vote but urged both sides to resolve the matter without layoffs.
"These are tough economic times, and I hope that everyone involved can come together to make the shared sacrifices that are necessary," Silver said.
Meanwhile, the contract rejection was welcomed by Transport Workers Union Local 100, representing some 35,000 bus and subway workers.
"This puts Local 100 in a stronger position when the [TWU] contract expires Jan. 15," said TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen. "It's a huge boost for us."
With Pete Donohue
gblain@nydailynews.com

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/09/27/2011-09-27_public_employees_federation_takes_slap_at_gov_andrew_cuomo_rejects_5year_contrac.html#ixzz1ZHadSEH7

WE DON'T WANT YOU http://www.suffolkotb.com/pages/contact.html

CLASSIFIED INFORMATION FOR SUFFOLK OTB EMPLOYEES
NO WHERE ON THE SUFFOLK OTB WEBSITE WILL YOU FIND THE BELOW MEETING NOTICE THAT YOU MIGHT THINK WOULD BE OF INTEREST TO SUFFOLK OTB EMPLOYEES OR CUSTOMERS. PERHAPS THEY ARE TIRED OF THE WORDS OF  PRESIDENT JEFF CASALE WHO WILL BE TESTIFYING BY INVITATION AT THE HEARING ANNOUNCED BELOW.

October 5, 2011 – 12:00 PM – 2:30 PM

October 5, 2011: Nassau County Office Building, Legislative Chamber,
1550 Franklin Ave., Mineola, NY 11501

WITNESS LIST

1. Steven Crist, Editor & Publisher Emeritus, Daily Racing Form

2. Michael Speller and Christian Good, Resorts World New York

3. Panel:
a. Joseph G. Cairo, Jr., President, Nassau Regional Off-Track Betting
Corporation
b. Jeff Casale, President, S uffolk Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation
c. John Signor, President & CEO, Capital Off-Track Betting Corporation
(questions only for Mr. Signor).

4. Rick Violette, President, New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s
Association, Inc.

5. Lenny Allen, President Local 2021, DC 37 and Barry Yomtov, President,
Local 858, International Brotherhood of Teamsters

6. Charles Hayward, President & CEO, New York Racing Association


Public Hearing: To develop potential ... - New York State Senate

www.nysenate.gov/.../oct/.../develop-potential-legislation-enhance-ra...Cached

Oct. 5 Senate Standing Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wagering Chair ...




customerservice@suffolkotb.com
suffolkotbinfo@suffolkotb.com 

The Manhattan Institute goes to Church with Andrew Cuomo rather than

see that bettors have the choice to bet or not at any OTB on any day of the year.
Perhaps they should get married?

Why labor could afford to slap the gov

Last Updated: 1:35 AM, September 28, 2011
Posted: 1:08 AM, September 28, 2011
headshotE.J. McMahon
Gov. Cuomo’s operations chief yesterday was quick to blast the leadership of the Public Employees Federation for “failing to effectively communicate the benefits” of a tentative contract deal that PEF members voted overwhelmingly to reject.
But if Cuomo wants to know the real reason why so many PEF members were willing to snub their noses at this deal, he might look toward the onetime engineering marvel that spans the churning confluence of the Harlem River, Bronx Kill and Hell Gate.
In July, Cuomo and PEF leaders reached a tentative five-year contract that offered a modified no-layoff pledge in exchange for some significant concessions, especially on the sharing of health-insurance costs. But thanks to a nearly 30-year-old state law known as the Triborough Amendment, the vast majority of PEF members knew they could avoid making any financial sacrifice simply by voting “no.”
Cuomo: Spurned by state-employee union.
AP
Cuomo: Spurned by state-employee union.
Triborough, historically rooted in a contract dispute involving toll collectors at what is now known as the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge, ensures that provisions of a public-sector union contract remain in effect even after the contract expires. As local government officials have been pointing out for years, this puts management -- meaning, ultimately, taxpayers -- at a distinct disadvantage when trying to bargain for lower costs.
Cuomo had won PEF’s tentative agreement to a three-year freeze in base salary and five payless “furlough” days this year -- essentially, a temporary pay cut. Union members would have to take off another four payless furlough days in 2012, for which they’d be reimbursed the next year.
They’d get 2 percent salary increases in years four and five, but they’d also pay for a larger share of their health premiums. As one union member told a labor publication last month, “We have the Triborough Amendment -- why do this to yourself?”
Why, indeed? Yes, up to 3,500 PEF members will now be laid off. But more than 90 percent of the union membership will keep their jobs while avoiding payless furloughs and higher insurance premiums. What’s more, thanks to Triborough, many workers will also continue pocketing the annual longevity “step” increments mandated by the civil-service-salary schedule -- just as they would have done if the squishy “freeze” in base salaries had been ratified.
Cuomo had reason to hope for a better outcome. After all, members of the state’s largest union, the Civil Service Employees Association, ratified an almost identical deal last month, thus making it unnecessary for him to lay off CSEA workers.
The different results probably reflect, in part, the distinctly differing circumstances of the two employees groups. CSEA represents the state’s lower-paid blue-collar and office-support workers -- drivers, janitors, secretaries, mental-health attendants and the like, who tend to live closer to the economic margins. PEF bargains for the government’s better-paid professionals, including lawyers, tax auditors, parole officers and research scientists.
Because both contracts would increase health-insurance premiums on a sliding scale, with higher hikes for better-paid workers, PEF members as a group stood to pay more. Except ... Triborough made that unnecessary.
Cuomo is now left with no choice but to commence layoffs, never an optimal solution -- and one that will not, in any case, yield the same lasting health-insurance savings as the rejected contract.
The state’s county executives, mayors and school officials may be tempted to see poetic justice in the governor’s first significant labor setback. After all, the main reason the Triborough Amendment hasn’t been challenged in Albany -- even though it tops most municipal and school-district mandate-relief agendas -- is because Cuomo has been unwilling to go near it.
Perhaps now he’ll rethink his position.
E.J. McMahon is a senior fellow with the Manhattan Institute’s Empire Center for New York State Policy.
ejm@empirecenter.org

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/why_labor_could_afford_to_slap_the_SnTY5JWUkZtueDdShwhSpN#ixzz1ZHNEA1Rp

Andrew Cuomo is a lazy lying lawyer, for if he cared about

 
the people of the State of New York having the choice as to whether to work and/or bet
at New York OTBs, on Palm Sunday and each and every Easters Sundays, he would simply ask the New York State Attorney General for an Opinion so he could faithfully carry out the law, NY PML Sec 105.
anyone knows that you can't close the New York OTBs on Andrew Cuomo's Easter and not on Greek Orthodox Easter.
NY PML Sec 105 is not constitutionally defensible and the closure of the OTBs on any day when tracks are running all across the United States that bettors want to bet is .....
 

Open On 1st Palm Sunday, Otb Rakes In $2m - New York Daily News

articles.nydailynews.com/.../18220335_1_racing-and-wagering-boar...Cached
Open On 1st Palm Sunday, Otb Rakes In $2m. BY JERRY BOSSERT DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER. Monday, April 14, 2003. New York City Off-Track Betting ...

(If this message is not displaying properly, click here to launch your browser.)
From the Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
Today Governor Cuomo announced an historic private investment in New York State that will create and retain approximately 6,900 jobs and make our state the epicenter for the next generation of computer chip technology.
The Governor’s agreement with five major technology companies – Intel, IBM, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, Samsung, and TSMC – is bringing an investment of $4.4 billion into the state’s nanotechnology sector that New York won over countries in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. To support the project, New York State will invest an additional $400 million in the SUNY College for Nanoscale Science Engineering, but no private company will receive any state funds.
Click here to see a video of Governor Cuomo making the announcement at his New York Open for Business Conference in Albany.
By passing an on-time budget with no new taxes, enacting a property tax cap, and embracing innovative ideas to make state government work, Governor Cuomo is taking action to put New York back on the path to prosperity.
As this investment shows, New York is now being recognized as a top location for economic development and companies across the globe are realizing that New York is open for business once again.

Governor Cuomos Facebook Page Governor Cuomos Twitter Feed
Governor Cuomos Facebook Page



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Version: 9.0.914 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/3922 - Release Date: 09/27/11 02:34:00

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

and here they come again , Nassau OTB owes Rooney $?,???,???

Table Games, OTB Focus of New York Hearing | BloodHorse.com

www.bloodhorse.com/.../table-games-otb-focus-of-new-york-hearingCached

Feb 7, 2011 – John Signor, president of the Capital District Regional Off-Track Betting Corp., said tracks are misdirecting their frustration. Instead, he said ...

Public Hearing of the New York State Senate Committee on Racing, Gaming
& Wagering

October 5, 2011 – 12:00 PM – 2:30 PM

October 5, 2011: Nassau County Office Building, Legislative Chamber,
1550 Franklin Ave., Mineola, NY 11501

WITNESS LIST

1. Steven Crist, Editor & Publisher Emeritus, Daily Racing Form

2. Michael Speller and Christian Good, Resorts World New York

3. Panel:
a. Joseph G. Cairo, Jr., President, Nassau Regional Off-Track Betting
Corporation
b. Jeff Casale, President, Suffolk Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation
c. John Signor, President & CEO, Capital Off-Track Betting Corporation
(questions only for Mr. Signor).

4. Rick Violette, President, New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s
Association, Inc.

5. Lenny Allen, President Local 2021, DC 37 and Barry Yomtov, President,
Local 858, International Brotherhood of Teamsters

6. Charles Hayward, President & CEO, New York Racing Association
.


Public Hearing: To develop potential ... - New York State Senate

www.nysenate.gov/.../oct/.../develop-potential-legislation-enhance-ra...Cached
Oct. 5 Senate Standing Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wagering Chair ...

John Signor of Capital OTB, a travelling man, to Nassau County

Capital District OTB exec John Signor at The Post-Standard editorial ...

videos.syracuse.com/post.../03/capital_district_otb_exec_john.htmlCached
Did you find this page useful?
+1 to recommend it on Google search!

Mar 31, 2011 – Video clip of Capital District OTB exec John Signor at The Post-Standard editorial board meeting. Video by Dick Blume.


Public Hearing of the New York State Senate Committee on Racing, Gaming
& Wagering

October 5, 2011 – 12:00 PM – 2:30 PM

October 5, 2011: Nassau County Office Building, Legislative Chamber,
1550 Franklin Ave., Mineola, NY 11501

WITNESS LIST

1. Steven Crist, Editor & Publisher Emeritus, Daily Racing Form

2. Michael Speller and Christian Good, Resorts World New York

3. Panel:
a. Joseph G. Cairo, Jr., President, Nassau Regional Off-Track Betting
Corporation
b. Jeff Casale, President, Suffolk Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation
c. John Signor, President & CEO, Capital Off-Track Betting Corporation
(questions only for Mr. Signor).


4. Rick Violette, President, New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s
Association, Inc.

5. Lenny Allen, President Local 2021, DC 37 and Barry Yomtov, President,
Local 858, International Brotherhood of Teamsters

6. Charles Hayward, President & CEO, New York Racing Association


Public Hearing: To develop potential ... - New York State Senate

www.nysenate.gov/.../oct/.../develop-potential-legislation-enhance-ra...Cached
Oct. 5 Senate Standing Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wagering Chair ..

nassau otb travelling north


Timing I$ Everything

A sharp-eyed reader wrote in to note two rather well-timed fundraisers being held in Albany tonight, the timing of which is all quite serendipitous, I’m sure.
The chairs of the Assembly and Senate Racing & Wagering committees – Gary Pretlow, a Mt. Vernon Democrat; and John Bonacic, a Mt. Hope Republican – are both holding $500-per person events tonight.
Pretlow’s fundraiser is at the University Club, Bonacic’s is at the Fort Orange Club. They’re actually a mere block apart, which makes it easier for the racing interests in town to hit both events without breaking much of a sweat.
The racing industry reps are in town for Bonacic’s hearing on the future of racing, wagering and gaming in NY. Only those invited to testify were allowed to do so. The list of those expected to speak included:
Michael Amo, Chairman of the Board of the Thoroughbred Racing Fan Association based out of Saratoga; Michael Speller, President of Resorts World New York; Charles Hayward, President and CEO of NYRA; representatives of several OTB Corporations including Donald Groth of Catskill OTB, John Signor of Capital OTB, Arthur Walsh of Nassau OTB; Joseph D’Amato of Empire Resorts; Joseph Faraldo of the Standardbred Owners Association of New York; Richard Violette, Jr. of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, Inc. and Jeffrey Cannizzo of the New York Thoroughbred Breeders.
Some news coming out of the hearing: Jim Odato reports Genting, which hasn’t even opened its Aqueduct racino yet, is already talking about expanding the number of VLTs on site.

in NY the sport is watch OTB's file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy?

09/26/2011 5:50PM

Illinois Racing Board faces key decision

EmailThe Illinois Racing Board's annual racing dates hearing, scheduled for Tuesday morning in Chicago, has an added layer of urgency this year, with Arlington Park arguing that Hawthorne Race Course should not run a spring meet in 2012 in order to enhance Arlington's  racing season.
The state racing board already has conducted two evidentiary hearings concerning 2012 racing. Normally, no such hearings exist, with testimony being taken only at the dates-award meeting itself, but this year the dates-award process is being conducted along formal legal lines rather than in the usual informal fashion.
Arlington, a Churchill Downs Inc. property, has argued that the Illinois racing industry would be better served if the local season began with Arlington's meet in late spring, rather than with the winter-spring meet Hawthorne has been conducting since the demise of the National Jockey Club, which used to hold a spring meet at Sportsman's Park.
Instead of paying money to purses during that period, Arlington and Churchill Downs Inc. argue, money earned from simulcasting could accumulate and be used to better the Arlington season, the focal point of the Illinois racing season. Hawthorne would still conduct a fall-winter meeting after Arlington's meet ended under the parameters of the Arlington-Churchill proposal.
Hawthorne, obviously, has vigorously opposed the Arlington plan, and the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association has lined up firmly in Hawthorne's corner on the issue. It will be surprising if the racing board fails to grant Hawthorne a spring meet for 2012 during Tuesday's meeting, especially since purses at Illinois tracks have recently been enhanced by millions of dollars of casino impact-fee funds freed up by the expiration of legal challenges from the affected casinos.

? index no.'s of cases Yonkers seeks to collect $ from Nassau OTB et al

Bleakley Platt & Schmidt, LLP
 
Frederick J. Martin  

Frederick J. Martin

Partner
   
Direct Dial: 914.287.6110
Fax: 914.683.6956
Email Frederick J. Martin

Practice Areas

Biography

Mr. Martin is a senior member of the Firm’s Executive Committee, and head of the Valuation, Condemnation and Tax Certiorari Practice Group. He is also a member of our Litigation and Appellate Practice Groups. In addition, Mr. Martin has served as a Westchester County Supervisor and as Councilman for the City of Yonkers.

With the Firm for nearly 50 years, Mr. Martin has tried and won precedent-setting property tax assessment cases representing major department store chains, shopping centers and large industrial facilities. He has successfully defended clients’ contractual rights with oil company dealers, as well as commercial free speech before the New York Court of Appeals. He has won major property tax cases on behalf of hundreds of others. He has successfully litigated constitutional due process, freedom of speech and eminent domain claims through the New York Court of Appeals and in the Second and Third Circuit Courts of Appeal of the United States. He recently argued and won a landmark decision in the New York Court of Appeals establishing the constitutionality of Video Lottery Terminals at New York race tracks.

Mr. Martin has lectured on various legal issues at the International Conference of the Lincoln Land Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark, Harness Tracks of America (Florida and Arizona), the Institute for Professionals in Taxation and the American Bar Association.

Education

Memberships

Mr. Martin is a member of the Westchester County, New York State and American Bar Associations.

Admissions

Monday, September 26, 2011

are you a true believer?

Nassau OTB ... Still Going Strong
Date:
07/01/2011

Time:

Description:
Nassau OTB wants to let all of our customers know that we are here for you, and will remain so for the foreseeable future. We continue to upgrade and update our branches and wagering machines, and we are opening new Fast Track locations on a regular basis. Our popular handicapping contests and seminars are 'alive and well'. Nassau OTB has been here for the local horseplaying community for 4 decades. We look forward to many more!

if you have never been to the Palace come

Public Meeting Of Nassau OTB's Board-Of-Directors
Date:
09/30/2011

Time:
11:00 AM

Description:
The BOARD OF DIRECTORS of the NASSAU OFF-TRACK BETTING CORPORATION will conduct a public meeting on Friday, September 30, 2011 at 11:00AM at the RACE PALACE. If additional information is needed please contact Jamie Ehrhardt at 516-572-2800, ext. 128.

Location:
The RACE PALACE: 1600 Round Swamp Rd., Plainview, NY. The Public Meeting will be held on the 2nd floor. The Race Palace is a handicapped-accessible facility.

and if you did not receive an invitation to the show, here it is

                                                                           


Public Hearing of the New York State Senate Committee on Racing, Gaming & Wagering

October 5, 2011 – 12:00 PM – 2:30 PM

October 5, 2011:  Nassau County Office Building, Legislative Chamber, 1550 Franklin Ave., Mineola, NY 11501

WITNESS LIST

1. Steven Crist, Editor & Publisher Emeritus, Daily Racing Form

2. Michael Speller and Christian Good, Resorts World New York

3. Panel:
a. Joseph G. Cairo, Jr., President, Nassau Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation
b. Jeff Casale, President, Suffolk Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation
c. John Signor, President & CEO, Capital Off-Track Betting Corporation (questions only for Mr. Signor).

4. Rick Violette, President, New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, Inc.

5. Lenny Allen, President Local 2021, DC 37 and Barry Yomtov,  President, Local 858, International Brotherhood of Teamsters

6. Charles Hayward, President & CEO, New York Racing Association

Sunday, September 25, 2011

OTB can't make money if it is closed on Palm Sunday & Easters Sundays

Provision could mend union, county rift

From left, NIFA members Leonard D. Steinman, Thomas
Photo credit: Howard Schnapp | From left, NIFA members Leonard D. Steinman, Thomas W. Stokes, Ronald A. Stack, George J. Marlin, and Evan Cohen during the meeting at the Nassau County Bar Association in Garden City. (Sept. 2, 2011)

Other Columnists

Pssssst. There's a little-noticed provision in state law that would allow Nassau's union leaders -- angry and weary over what they call nonproductive talks with Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano -- to work toward a deal.
It's in Section 3369, Paragraph 3B of the Nassau Interim Finance Authority's enabling legislation, which allows unions to work directly with NIFA to cut county costs.
Under the section, a wage freeze would not apply to unions that negotiated with NIFA to reach an agreement "which has been certified by the authority as being an acceptable and appropriate contribution toward alleviating the fiscal crisis of the county."

More: Complete coverage: NIFA and Nassau

The clause could be an unconventional way to break the ongoing -- and increasingly bitter -- standoff between Mangano and the county's unions.
Last week, in releasing, as expected, an End-of-Days-like budget plan for 2012, Mangano declared a fiscal emergency.
And no wonder: There's a greater than $300-million hole to be covered. The proposal contains expense cuts for many -- although, significantly, not all -- county divisions.
And, for the first time in recent memory, it extends those cuts to the offices of independently elected officials, such as the county clerk.
The budget proposal itself offer clues to Nassau's financial challenges. It notes that Nassau -- as does every other municipality -- expects significant cuts in state and federal aid. But it also says that Nassau's surplus fund is almost gone.
The proposal quantifies the consequences of Nassau's decision earlier this year to have a fire sale of projected revenues from its Mitchel Field leases. The transaction helped in the short term, but will do nothing in the years to come.
The budget does anticipate a significant increase in revenue from parks and other service fees next year, but it also projects a big fat zero of revenue from the county's Off Track Betting parlors (although Nassau will continue to get revenue from a tax on wagers).
To meet the challenge, Mangano included deep cuts to expenses in the proposal. The problem, however, is that he has no power to unilaterally bring the most significant cuts to fruition.
Mangano said he would impose furloughs, mandate health care contributions and demand other concessions from labor unions.
That's not going to happen -- no matter how novel Mangano's legal justification. Under his theory, binding union contracts were altered when NIFA froze wages and other compensation. Therefore, Mangano reasons, he should be able to step in and do more.
He's asked the state and county legislatures to get behind him by passing laws. But New York is not Wisconsin -- which probably makes the measure DOA should it ever make it to Albany.
It's also unlikely that Mangano's fellow Republicans, who are trying to keep a majority in the county legislature, will do anything until after Election Day.
It should be noted that the county's unions have filed lawsuits challenging NIFA's power to freeze wages and other compensation in the first place.
But union leaders appear to be more upset with Mangano than NIFA right now. Last week, the county Police Benevolent Association began a campaign against the cuts, with a truck carrying a sign saying that the proposed cuts would endanger public safety.
Behind the scenes, some union leaders say, they've approached NIFA in the past with requests for intervention. And NIFA recently sent out a request for proposals for firms with expertise in municipal labor relations.
Can Mangano and labor bridge their differences? What role can -- and should -- NIFA play? These are uncharted waters for Nassau. And it's getting rough out there.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

now if only they would tell us who is invited to testify and why?

Barry Yomtov?

Laura Campione?


 

Racing, Gaming and Wagering

Next committee event

  • Oct 05
    PUBLIC HEARING OF THE NEW YORK STATE SENATE RACING, GAMING AND WAGERING COMMITTEE FOR SEPTEMBER 9, 2011 IS RE-SCHEDULED FOR OCTOBER 5, 2011

                The Public Hearing of the New York State Senate Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee originally scheduled for September 9, 2011 from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM at the Nassau County Office Building, 1550 Franklin Avenue, Mineola has been re-scheduled.  The Public Hearing will now be on October 5, 2011 from 12:00 PM to 2:30 PM at the same location as originally scheduled. 

    Oct. 5 Senate Standing Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wagering
    Chair: Senator John J. Bonacic
    Public Hearing: To develop potential legislation to enhance the racing industry in New York State
    Place: Nassau County Office Building, Legislative Chamber, 1550 Franklin Ave, Mineola, New York
    Time: 12:00 P.M. – 2:30 P.M.
    Contact: Langdon Chapman (845) 344-3311
    Media Contact: Jillian Deuel (518) 455-3181
    ORAL TESTIMONY BY INVITATION ONLY

    This event will be streamed live.

Committee Updates

fan or not?

http://www.racing.state.ny.us/pdf/09011114040909.01.11.rel.FanAdvisoryCouncil.pdf

Take the Patrick M Connors legal quiz and see if he is a fan or no fan:

1. Does NY PML Sec. 105 apply to the OTBs?
2. Is  NY PML Sec 205 constitutionally defensible?
3. Does NY PML Sec 105 violate the rights of betting students at Albany Law School secured by NY Const. Art. 1, Sec. 3.?
4. Is NY PML Sec 105 vague, indefinite and/or overly broad?

§  105. Supplementary regulatory powers of the board.  Notwithstanding
  any inconsistent provision of law,  the  board  through  its  rules  and
  regulations  or  in  allotting  dates  for  racing  or in licensing race
  meetings at which pari-mutuel betting is permitted  shall  be  empowered
  to:  (i)  permit racing at which pari-mutuel betting is conducted on any
  or all dates from the first day of January through the thirty-first  day
  of December, inclusive of Sundays but exclusive of December twenty-fifth
  and  Palm  Sunday  and  Easter  Sunday; and (ii) fix minimum and maximum
  charges for admission at any race meeting.


Open On 1st Palm Sunday, Otb Rakes In $2m - New York Daily News

articles.nydailynews.com/.../18220335_1_racing-and-wagering-boar...Cached
Open On 1st Palm Sunday, Otb Rakes In $2m. BY JERRY BOSSERT DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER. Monday, April 14, 2003. New York City Off-Track Betting ...












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Attorney Detail
as of 09/24/2011
 
Registration Number: 2231637
   

PATRICK M. CONNORS

ALBANY LAW SCHOOL

80 NEW SCOTLAND AVE

ALBANY, NY 12208-3494

United States

(518) 445-2322


   
Year Admitted in NY: 1989
Appellate Division Department of Admission: 4
Law School: ST JOHNS UNIVERSITY
Registration Status: Currently registered
Next Registration: Aug 2013

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