On any day when tracks are running anywhere in the United States Nassau OTB should be open.
Employees who wish to take a day's vacation may do so without giving a reason. Let bettors bet and the money flow. Working for people who don't surf?
Governor Feels Squeeze
As Smaller Cities Across State Suffer Fiscal Woes, Cuomo Faces Tough Decisions
By JACOB GERSHMAN
As fiscal fears in New York spread from Long Island to the Rust Belt, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is confronting the question of how to help municipal governments pull through the worst cash crunch in decades.The outlook is grim for an increasing number of smaller cities, where eroding tax bases, unrelenting surges in pension and health-care costs and the depletion of reserves have narrowed options. Utica, Yonkers and Long Beach have seen their credit ratings slashed, raising fears of bankruptcy. The mayors of Syracuse and Rochester say they may soon have to yield to financial control boards, which are approved by Albany and can impose emergency cuts.
![[NYCUOMO]](http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/NY-BP124_NYCUOM_NS_20120413180003.jpg)
The governor's office has urged mayors to squeeze more dollars from their budgets and extract concessions from local labor unions, but for the time being has avoided talk of more drastic actions, such as appointing control boards, giving cities more collective-bargaining powers or bailing them out with more state cash. Mayors interviewed say that could change.
"I believe there's a recognition in Albany that we're going to have to come up with a new way to help finance these upstate cities. Otherwise, they're all going to wind up with a control board," said Rochester Mayor Thomas Richards. "I don't mean to say they've committed to a specific solution."
Said Mr. Richards: "We're not the only problem Andrew Cuomo has got, and we respect that."
The mayor of Yonkers, a debt-loaded city grappling with a $90 million deficit, is urging Mr. Cuomo to come up with a "targeted long-term program" for helping cities.
"I know the governor has his hands full with New York state government, but I'm thoroughly convinced he'll be there for the cities as well," said Mayor Mike Spano. "I have no doubt that this governor is not going to want to see cities failing under his administration." For starters, he said, Albany should redistribute school aid so that more money flows to the hardest-hit cities.
Josh Vlasto, a spokesman for the governor, said in a statement that the administration is "monitoring each situation closely and remains in direct contact with local officials to find ways the state can be helpful to get them through these very difficult times."
People close to the Cuomo administration, though, say the governor's office is wary of taking pressure off cities to make tough choices.
"You don't want to say you can always do a financial control board because it lets cities off the hook before you know that you need to do that," said a person familiar with the administration's thinking.
In early 2012, Mr. Cuomo expressed alarm about the plight of cities while lobbying lawmakers and public-sector unions to back a new pension plan. His tone has since turned upbeat.
"For years rising pension costs have spelled disaster for local governments across the state. That finally changed this week," the governor said after lawmakers last month adopted a pension plan for new hires that will save the state money. After securing the pension deal and a budget agreement, Mr. Cuomo gave triumphant speeches in Syracuse, Utica and Buffalo, assuring that New York's economy had turned a corner.
The revised pension system shifts more retirement costs to employees and is expected to cost about a third less than the old system. "If pension reform and mandate hadn't passed," said Mr. Vlasto, "thousands of public employees would need to be laid off and these fiscal problems will spread."
But cities don't expect to see any significant savings for another decade, after more of their workers are enrolled in the cheaper plan. "Those savings won't materialize quickly enough to stave off insolvency," said Stephanie Miner, the mayor of Syracuse, whose $30 million pension bill this year is more than 14 times larger than the city's retirement costs in 2000.
For troubled cities, the biggest chunk of relief from Albany this year arrived via a one-shot rise in revenue through an advance payment in state aid. The budget device, known as a "spin-up," didn't cost the state extra money. But it's frowned upon by fiscal watchdogs as a gimmick, because the added dose of cash is good only for a year.
The mayors of Rochester and Syracuse, which each received more than $10 million in "spin-ups," say they wouldn't be able to balance their budgets this year without it.
"Nobody seriously thinks of it as revenue. You can't spin-up or one-shot your way out of these gaps," said Richard Brodsky, a former state assemblyman who is advising the mayor of Yonkers on managing its finances. "When they have to start laying off thousands of cops, firemen and sanitation workers, no one will accept the notion that it's not the state's problem."
A "spin-up" also went to Long Beach, which declared a financial emergency in February after suffering a hit to its credit rating.
The city is so cash-poor that it's going to need to borrow money just to shed workers, officials say. It can't afford to pay retirement incentives and the accrued vacation, sick time and personal leave owed to employees when they leave government.
Long Beach's city manager is looking to slash discretionary spending and freeze wages. Without those cuts, the city says it will have to raise taxes by 41%.
Up north in the Mohawk Valley in central New York, Utica's situation is just as dire. During the downturn, the city burned through its reserves to avoid steep tax hikes. The city just laid off about 5% of its workforce and shrunk its fire department personnel by nearly 10%, according to the city's comptroller, Mike Cerminaro.
The governor's office has been "listening to us," said Mr. Cerminaro. "But when we're going to see the fruits of those talks and immediate benefits, I don't know," he said.
The same debate in New York is playing out in other states with cities besieged by the same problems.
In Rhode Island, for instance, Gov. Lincoln Chafee has launched a high-profile campaign with dozens of mayors to get lawmakers to pass a package of legislation to help distressed cities such as Providence and Pawtucket stave off bankruptcy.
Along with putting caps on local pension benefits, the bills would allow communities designated "distressed" to curtail collective-bargaining powers of police and firefighters and suspend expired contracts.
"For distressed communities, these are significant changes, and Gov. Cuomo has yet to talk about anything this significant in New York," said E.J. McMahon, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank. "Doing nothing is not a sustainable strategy for the governor here. He's not going to be able to duck this problem."
Write to Jacob Gershman at jacob.gershman@wsj.com
Kevin McCaffrey Barry Yomtov Laura Campione Teamsters Local 707 which swallowed Teamsters Local 858 and gave former NYC OTB Manager Barry Yomtov a job.
Even the employees of public benefit corporations know of the NFL Player's Association mantra
show us the books, all the sets of them.
Dear Attorney General Eric Schneiderman:
The Bettors of the State of New York and the employees of the remaining OTBs, public benefit corporations, have no standing to ask for your Opinion to the following simple questions with seemingly obvious answers::
1. Will the Attorney General defend the constitutionality of NY PML Sec 105?
2. Does NY PML Sec 105 apply to Nassau OTB?
3. Does NY PML Sec 105 violate the rights of New York Bettors secured by NY Const. Art. 1, Sec. 3?
4. Is NY PML Sec 105 vague, indefinite and/or overly broad as the term "Easter Sunday" does not define one and only one Sunday in all years (see eg Gregorian and Julian Calendars)? See article from the Wall Street Journal on Calendars below.
I hope that you will sua sponte issue an Opinion as to the above so that bettors may bet, workers may work or not as they wish, and the State and its subdivisions make money. There are tracks running all across the United States every day of the year that bettors want to bet. Track calendars may be found at eg www.ntra.com. The OTBs also sell New York Lottery tickets which are drawn every day of the year. The OTBs also cash non IRS Lottery tickets in cash for any sum, a convenience for many Lotto Players.
It is critical in these current time that the OTBs are open when customers want to bet. I believe that your Opinion will belatedly validate the actions of New York City OTB taken on the advice of its Counsel in 2003.
Sincerely yours,
The Bettors of the State of New York and the employees of the remaining OTBs, public benefit corporations, have no standing to ask for your Opinion to the following simple questions with seemingly obvious answers::
1. Will the Attorney General defend the constitutionality of NY PML Sec 105?
2. Does NY PML Sec 105 apply to Nassau OTB?
3. Does NY PML Sec 105 violate the rights of New York Bettors secured by NY Const. Art. 1, Sec. 3?
4. Is NY PML Sec 105 vague, indefinite and/or overly broad as the term "Easter Sunday" does not define one and only one Sunday in all years (see eg Gregorian and Julian Calendars)? See article from the Wall Street Journal on Calendars below.
I hope that you will sua sponte issue an Opinion as to the above so that bettors may bet, workers may work or not as they wish, and the State and its subdivisions make money. There are tracks running all across the United States every day of the year that bettors want to bet. Track calendars may be found at eg www.ntra.com. The OTBs also sell New York Lottery tickets which are drawn every day of the year. The OTBs also cash non IRS Lottery tickets in cash for any sum, a convenience for many Lotto Players.
It is critical in these current time that the OTBs are open when customers want to bet. I believe that your Opinion will belatedly validate the actions of New York City OTB taken on the advice of its Counsel in 2003.
Sincerely yours,
Open On 1st Palm Sunday, Otb Rakes In $2m - New York Daily News
articles.nydailynews.com/.../18220335_1_racing-and-wagering-boar...
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 ...
§ 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.
Orthodox Calendar - Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
calendar.goarch.org/
Containing the saints and feasts commemorated each day, the life of the saint. Also indicates fast days. From the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North America.| Live Racing For further information, please contact: NTRA Communications at (212) 230-9500 E-mail: calendar@ntra.com   |   |
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