Eric Schneiderman doesn't understand NY Const. ARt. 1, Sec. 3

You can't close Nassau OTB when Andrew Cuomo is in Church and Greeks want to bet.

HI-

Thanks for the help. The item’s below. I’d be happy to mail you a copy, if you give me a mailing address.

Claude Solnik

(631) 913-4244

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.

Judge refuses to toss lawsuit against Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation

Published: Monday, September 17, 2012

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By PAUL POST
ppost@saratogian.com
Twitter.com/paulvpost

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation has lost in its attempt to have a lawsuit thrown out that seeks to have the group’s board of directors removed.

On May 3, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sued the Saratoga Springs-based TRF, charging that it accepted more horses than it could financially care for, resulting in neglect and some deaths. In a release at the time of the lawsuit filing, Schneiderman said: “Despite my office’s efforts to encourage reform, TRF’s current directors have proven incapable of turning around the dire situation they have created. The time has come to give new leadership a chance.”

The TRF disputes the allegations and sought to have the case tossed out, but Justice Anil C. Singh on Monday sided with Schneiderman in state Supreme Court in Manhattan.

“Why he’s (Schneiderman) wasting the taxpayers’ money I don’t know,” TRF Chairman John Moore said. “He’s misguided and he’s a liar. This man wouldn’t know the truth if it hit him in the face.”

An investigation by Schneiderman’s office said the TRF ignored repeated warnings, including some from its officers, that the organization couldn’t properly sustain its number of horses. The investigation also found multiple cases of neglect at several TRF farms.

However, the suit recognizes the value of the group’s mission and seeks to have new directors installed.

The TRF now cares for more than 900 horses, down about 30 percent from a couple of years ago because of attrition, Moore said.

He said that Schneiderman’s suit is baseless and that pictures of thin horses are misleading. The animals photographed were very old and not malnourished, he said.

“We feel that we can demonstrate that the horses are all fine,” Moore said. “This is going to proceed toward a trial. I would hope that reasonable people can settle this somehow along the way.”

Moore said he does not believe that current board members, including former TRF Executive Director Diana Pikulski, should be dismissed. Pikulski is still on the board and is the group’s director of external affairs, in charge of fundraising.

Moore said new board members are welcome, “as long as they’re qualified.”

TRF now has 20 days to respond to complaints in the attorney general’s suit. The judge has also scheduled a Nov. 7 conference for attorneys on both sides.

The suit alleges that the TRF spends about $3 per day for horses, much less than other equine rescue groups, and that directors failed in their administration of a not-for-profit corporation.

However, Moore said allegations stem in part from disgruntled former board members who were let go by the TRF. He said board members donate large sums of their own money and that several new members have joined recently.

To view Justice Singh’s decision, go to https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/fbem/DocumentDisplayServlet?documentId=PbkpgdzLhvusE9e1_PLUS_x0PAw==&system=prod

To view Schneiderman’s lawsuit, go to http://www.ag.ny.gov/sites/default/file/pdfs/FINAL%20COMPLAINT%20WITH%20INDEX%20NO.pdf