Suffolk County Legislator Kevin McCaffrey tells NJ that working is for people who have nothing bettor to do?
Atlantic City responds that we take people's bets when they want to bet.
NJ the right side of the Hudson with the Teamsters 707 like Public Pension Plan. Sunk.
HI-
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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.
Christie Taps Emergency Manager for Atlantic City
Detroit’s Former Emergency Manager Will Also Have a Role
ENLARGE
Kevyn Orr, right, at a news conference with Gov. Rick Snyder in December 2014.
Photo:
Bloomberg News
The Republican governor is expected to announce Thursday that he is hiring Kevin Lavin, a corporate-finance and business-restructuring lawyer who most recently worked for FTI Consulting Inc. in New York, according to a senior Christie administration official familiar with the matter.
Mr. Christie is also tapping Kevyn Orr —who guided Detroit through its bankruptcy proceedings as its emergency manager—as a part-time consultant in the effort in Atlantic City.
The two men will begin work immediately, the person said, effectively assuming powers now wielded by the city’s elected mayor and City Council.
There are no discussions currently about a bankruptcy filing for Atlantic City, but the official said all options will be considered—including renegotiating labor contracts.
“We aren’t putting any strings attached to their work,” the official said. “Everything is on the table.”
The installation of an emergency manager over the city of 40,000 was a dramatic move by Mr. Christie, a potential 2016 presidential candidate who has pledged to help revive the coastal resort.
A spokesman for Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian, a Republican, said the mayor would oppose any sort of outside control, including an emergency manager, because he had already cut the city’s budget and more than 140 employees, working closely with state officials.
“I don’t think the residents will be very happy,” said Chris Filiciello, the spokesman. “They elected the mayor to represent them. He has been fulfilling his duties to the best of his ability and we’d like to know what an emergency manager would do that the mayor hasn’t done already.”
Mr. Orr didn’t return a call for comment Wednesday through a spokesman. Mr. Lavin didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Mr. Christie has said he respected Mr. Guardian and his efforts, but he remained committed to having the state take a leading role. “The fact is we are going to do the things we need to do to try and make sure Atlantic City gets it act together,” Mr. Christie said last week on his monthly radio program.
Mr. Guardian enjoys a lot of support in the city, but cleaning up years of mismanagement would be challenging for any mayor, said Israel Posner, executive director of the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.
An emergency manager would likely help Atlantic City make important changes immediately, though it couldn’t make up for the closures in casinos that have driven the city’s difficulties, said Eric Scorsone, an economist at Michigan State University who teaches about distressed cities.
“I do think an emergency manager would be interesting and potentially helpful,” said Mr. Scorsone, who provided advice last year to New Jersey officials about how to handle economically troubled cities. “It might be necessary but I’m not sure if it’s sufficient.”
New Jersey doesn’t have a specific law that allows the state to take over a municipality through an emergency manager. Mr. Christie is expected to make the appointments through local finance laws that allow the state to impose fiscal monitors—as it is doing, in limited fashion, in places such as Newark.
Bill Dressel, director of the New Jersey League of Municipalities, said he was concerned about the state exerting this degree of control over a city, and questioned what laws the administration was using to justify its involvement. “Obviously I’ve got some concerns,” he said.
Atlantic City has seen its fortunes fall in the last several years as casinos in neighboring states have chipped away at its former monopoly on gambling. Four of Atlantic City’s 12 casinos announced they would close last year, leading to the loss of about 8,000 jobs.
ENLARGE
In November, a panel convened by Mr. Christie suggested the state impose an emergency manager for Atlantic City, along with restructuring the city’s school, tax and pension systems.
A summit in Atlantic City on Thursday to be attended by Mr. Christie and members of his panel is expected to only address the emergency-management team for now, but the rest of those proposals are still under consideration with more steps to be announced, the senior administration official said.
In July 2013, Mr. Orr was appointed as Detroit’s emergency manager to steer it through the nation’s largest municipal bankruptcy. He hired a new police chief and pushed to privatize the city’s garbage collection and outsource its electric utility. He stepped down in December.
His efforts sparked controversy—as did his $275,000 a year salary—but his work was largely praised.
James Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, said an emergency manager in Atlantic City could make tough financial decisions without facing political pressure.
“It signals there are some very, very severe fiscal problems that the current administration of that area can’t handle,” Mr. Hughes said.
Tilman Fertitta, owner of Golden Nugget casino in Atlantic City, acknowledged the state’s efforts but was skeptical. “No one has a magic wand for Atlantic City,” he said.
Write to Heather Haddon at heather.haddon@wsj.com
