Nearly eight weeks after the New York Racing Association and Gov. Andrew Cuomo reached an agreement to dissolve the association’s current board of directors in favor of a board controlled by state politicians, it remains unclear when state officials will seek to replace the current NYRA board.
Officials in the Cuomo administration did not respond on Monday to requests for comment on when Cuomo would make his appointments to the board, the same day that a columnist for the New York Post, citing a “source with direct knowledge of the planned action,” said that Cuomo would pick his eight directors immediately after the close of the Saratoga meet on Sept. 3. The meet opens on Friday.
Given the high profile of the Saratoga meet, it would be logical to assume that Cuomo will wait until the end of the stand to make his picks, in the interests of allowing the meet to proceed without purposeful disruption. Under legislation passed last month, the new board will “become effective” when seven of the 12 state appointments to the board are announced. Cuomo has the power to appoint eight board members, while the leaderships of the state Assembly and Senate each will have the power to appoint two board members.
NYRA’s current board has 25 members, 14 of whom are appointed by NYRA. The other 11 appointments are controlled by the state.
Board members on Monday said that they had not had any communications with Gov. Cuomo’s office about his plans for the board since the agreement was struck to dissolve the current board in late May.
The New York Post column also said that Cuomo planned to fire Ellen McClain, NYRA’s current chief operating officer and the president of the NYRA board. The column, however, called McClain NYRA’s “chief executive officer,” a position at NYRA that remains unfilled since NYRA’s former chief executive, Charles Hayward, was fired in connection with a state report suggesting that Hayward and other NYRA officials were aware that NYRA had applied the wrong takeout rates to many superexotic wagers over a 15-month period in 2010 and 2011.
Board members said they had no knowledge of any plan to fire McClain, who was elevated to president of the board after Hayward’s departure left the position vacant.
Earlier this year, Cuomo said that the new NYRA board would conduct a “nationwide search” to fill the chief executive position.
NYRA chairman Stephen Duncker would not comment on the report, but he released a statement specifically noting that McClain was the association’s “chief operating officer,” not its chief executive.
“[McClain] is an extremely talented executive and the NYRA board of directors is very happy with the job that she has done running the company,” the statement read. “We are immediately focused on maintaining the terrific success that we have had at Saratoga Race Course.”
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Stop scratching on holidays
Off Track Betting in New York State has been racing into a crisis called shrinking revenue. Some people have spitballed a solution: Don’t close on holidays.
New York State Racing Law bars racing on Christmas, Easter and Palm Sunday, and the state has ruled OTBs can’t handle action on those days, even though they could easily broadcast races from out of state.
“You should be able to bet whenever you want,” said Jackson Leeds, a Nassau OTB employee who makes an occasional bet. He added some irrefutable logic: “How is the business going to make money if you’re not open to take people’s bets?”
Elias Tsekerides, president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, said OTB is open on Greek Orthodox Easter and Palm Sunday.
“I don’t want discrimination,” Tsekerides said. “They close for the Catholics, but open for the Greek Orthodox? It’s either open for all or not open.”
OTB officials have said they lose millions by closing on Palm Sunday alone, with tracks such as Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise and Hawthorne running.
One option: OTBs could just stay open and face the consequences. New York City OTB did just that back in 2003. The handle was about $1.5 million – and OTB was fined $5,000.
Easy money.
Officials in the Cuomo administration did not respond on Monday to requests for comment on when Cuomo would make his appointments to the board, the same day that a columnist for the New York Post, citing a “source with direct knowledge of the planned action,” said that Cuomo would pick his eight directors immediately after the close of the Saratoga meet on Sept. 3. The meet opens on Friday.
Given the high profile of the Saratoga meet, it would be logical to assume that Cuomo will wait until the end of the stand to make his picks, in the interests of allowing the meet to proceed without purposeful disruption. Under legislation passed last month, the new board will “become effective” when seven of the 12 state appointments to the board are announced. Cuomo has the power to appoint eight board members, while the leaderships of the state Assembly and Senate each will have the power to appoint two board members.
NYRA’s current board has 25 members, 14 of whom are appointed by NYRA. The other 11 appointments are controlled by the state.
Board members on Monday said that they had not had any communications with Gov. Cuomo’s office about his plans for the board since the agreement was struck to dissolve the current board in late May.
The New York Post column also said that Cuomo planned to fire Ellen McClain, NYRA’s current chief operating officer and the president of the NYRA board. The column, however, called McClain NYRA’s “chief executive officer,” a position at NYRA that remains unfilled since NYRA’s former chief executive, Charles Hayward, was fired in connection with a state report suggesting that Hayward and other NYRA officials were aware that NYRA had applied the wrong takeout rates to many superexotic wagers over a 15-month period in 2010 and 2011.
Board members said they had no knowledge of any plan to fire McClain, who was elevated to president of the board after Hayward’s departure left the position vacant.
Earlier this year, Cuomo said that the new NYRA board would conduct a “nationwide search” to fill the chief executive position.
NYRA chairman Stephen Duncker would not comment on the report, but he released a statement specifically noting that McClain was the association’s “chief operating officer,” not its chief executive.
“[McClain] is an extremely talented executive and the NYRA board of directors is very happy with the job that she has done running the company,” the statement read. “We are immediately focused on maintaining the terrific success that we have had at Saratoga Race Course.”
I-
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Long Island Business News
2150 Smithtown Ave.
Ronkonkoma, NY 11779-7348
Home > LI Confidential > Stop scratching on holidays
Stop scratching on holidays
Published: June 1, 2012
Off Track Betting in New York State has been racing into a crisis called shrinking revenue. Some people have spitballed a solution: Don’t close on holidays.
New York State Racing Law bars racing on Christmas, Easter and Palm Sunday, and the state has ruled OTBs can’t handle action on those days, even though they could easily broadcast races from out of state.
“You should be able to bet whenever you want,” said Jackson Leeds, a Nassau OTB employee who makes an occasional bet. He added some irrefutable logic: “How is the business going to make money if you’re not open to take people’s bets?”
Elias Tsekerides, president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, said OTB is open on Greek Orthodox Easter and Palm Sunday.
“I don’t want discrimination,” Tsekerides said. “They close for the Catholics, but open for the Greek Orthodox? It’s either open for all or not open.”
OTB officials have said they lose millions by closing on Palm Sunday alone, with tracks such as Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise and Hawthorne running.
One option: OTBs could just stay open and face the consequences. New York City OTB did just that back in 2003. The handle was about $1.5 million – and OTB was fined $5,000.
Easy money.
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