January 29, 2015
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Editorial
Nassau OTB's process was flawed
The decision earlier this month by Nassau Regional Off Track Betting
to establish a gaming facility in Westbury has been met with strong
opposition by nearby residents, who have expressed their outrage at
several community meetings and public protests.
Nassau OTB’s announcement raised a number of questions. Who authorized the facility? Why do local governments lack the ability to block it? And, most important of all, why didn’t OTB seek any public input when deciding on a location?
The agency said it chose the site, a vacant space in the Source Mall that most recently held a Fortunoff, from 20 respondents to its public Request for Statements of Interest. But there was no input from the public, no community forums or hearings to give residents the chance to voice their opinions on where such a facility should go. That’s just plain wrong.
Nassau OTB is authorized to establish the gambling parlor by a state law, passed in 2013, which was primarily designed to boost economic activity upstate with the development of four casinos. But the law also authorized both the Nassau and Suffolk OTBs to establish facilities containing as many as 1,000 video lottery terminals. Though the law was tied to a constitutional amendment that was not approved by voters until the following November, state lawmakers said that language in the law would have allowed both OTBs to set up the facilities regardless of whether the referendum passed.
Both Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano and Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray have said they have no jurisdiction to veto the proposal. Only the New York State Gaming Commission, which has oversight of regional OTBs, can block it.
We find it puzzling that such a facility is exempt from local zoning regulations. Virtually any other structure that is developed here must face a rigorous approval process by zoning boards and planning commissions, yet a gambling parlor, which is sure to draw opposition from its potential neighbors, requires no such scrutiny? The process is clearly flawed.
It remains to be seen whether Nassau OTB officials will acquiesce to public demand and move the facility elsewhere, but it seems obvious to us that the next time the agency contemplates development, it needs to be more transparent and inclusive.
Nassau OTB’s announcement raised a number of questions. Who authorized the facility? Why do local governments lack the ability to block it? And, most important of all, why didn’t OTB seek any public input when deciding on a location?
The agency said it chose the site, a vacant space in the Source Mall that most recently held a Fortunoff, from 20 respondents to its public Request for Statements of Interest. But there was no input from the public, no community forums or hearings to give residents the chance to voice their opinions on where such a facility should go. That’s just plain wrong.
Nassau OTB is authorized to establish the gambling parlor by a state law, passed in 2013, which was primarily designed to boost economic activity upstate with the development of four casinos. But the law also authorized both the Nassau and Suffolk OTBs to establish facilities containing as many as 1,000 video lottery terminals. Though the law was tied to a constitutional amendment that was not approved by voters until the following November, state lawmakers said that language in the law would have allowed both OTBs to set up the facilities regardless of whether the referendum passed.
Both Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano and Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray have said they have no jurisdiction to veto the proposal. Only the New York State Gaming Commission, which has oversight of regional OTBs, can block it.
We find it puzzling that such a facility is exempt from local zoning regulations. Virtually any other structure that is developed here must face a rigorous approval process by zoning boards and planning commissions, yet a gambling parlor, which is sure to draw opposition from its potential neighbors, requires no such scrutiny? The process is clearly flawed.
It remains to be seen whether Nassau OTB officials will acquiesce to public demand and move the facility elsewhere, but it seems obvious to us that the next time the agency contemplates development, it needs to be more transparent and inclusive.
The long closed Fortunoff store at
the Source Mall in Westbury on Dec. 30, 2014. Photo
Credit: Newsday / Thomas A. Ferrara
A
Nassau County judge Friday declined to issue a temporary restraining
order that would have prevented the Nassau Regional Off-Track Betting
Corp. from purchasing the vacant Fortunoff building in Westbury to build
a video gambling parlor.
State Supreme Court Justice Daniel Palmieri said the order, requested by the towns of Hempstead and North Hempstead and the Village of Westbury, would be "premature and based on speculation" since OTB has yet to sign a contract to acquire the building.
He did not rule on the merits of a lawsuit seeking to stop the project that the municipalities filed Friday.
"The signing of the contract is not imminent; I find there is no irreparable harm," Palmieri told a Mineola courtroom packed with more than 100 residents opposed to the project.
Many wore T-shirts reading "Say No To The CasiNo."OTB general counsel Arthur Walsh said there is a draft of the contract but there are "open terms" to be settled. OTB still must perform a traffic and environmental study and the state Gaming Commission must approve the pact.
North Hempstead Town Attorney Elizabeth Botwin said she was "certain" the municipalities would be successful when the suit is heard by Justice George Peck on March 9.
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Hempstead Chief Deputy Town Attorney Charles Kovit argued
that the gambling venue would violate a town building code ordinance
prohibiting an OTB facility from operating within 500 feet of any home.
Town officials said the nearest home is 418 feet from the vacant retail
store, which closed in 2009.
Walsh countered that OTB is a state agency exempt from local zoning. He said the closest home is in the Town of North Hempstead while the Fortunoff building is the Town of Hempstead -- nullifying the Hempstead zoning issue.
"North Hempstead has no role in our property," Walsh said.
The lawsuit also claims that OTB was legally required to perform an environmental review of the Fortunoff site before announcing its site selection.
Walsh said OTB would undertake the mandatory State Environmental Quality Review after signing a contract with Fortunoff's lenders and bondholders. They took ownership of the Fortunoff site in 2012 when a foreclosure auction attracted no buyers willing to pay off the $128 million debt on the site.
Palmieri declined to rule on the timing of the review.
OTB officials announced in December that they selected the Fortunoff store to build a gambling parlor with 1,000 video slot machines.
Opponents of the plan have packed hearings and protests. They say the mini-casino would lead to an increase in crime and traffic, hurt property values and damage Westbury's suburban quality of life.
A bipartisan group of local, county and state officials has joined the opposition. On Thursday, Legis. Norma Gonsalves (R-East Meadow), presiding officer of the Nassau County Legislature, announced that she and the majority GOP caucus were calling on OTB to find an alternative site.
OTB officials have said they were committed to the Fortunoff site. They say the project would create 200 jobs and generate $150 million in annual revenue, including $68 million to boost state education funding and $20 million for Nassau.
http://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/spin-cycle/cuomo-rejects-bill-to-give-nassau-otb-revenue-cut-from-belmont-1.9884573State Supreme Court Justice Daniel Palmieri said the order, requested by the towns of Hempstead and North Hempstead and the Village of Westbury, would be "premature and based on speculation" since OTB has yet to sign a contract to acquire the building.
He did not rule on the merits of a lawsuit seeking to stop the project that the municipalities filed Friday.
"The signing of the contract is not imminent; I find there is no irreparable harm," Palmieri told a Mineola courtroom packed with more than 100 residents opposed to the project.
Many wore T-shirts reading "Say No To The CasiNo."OTB general counsel Arthur Walsh said there is a draft of the contract but there are "open terms" to be settled. OTB still must perform a traffic and environmental study and the state Gaming Commission must approve the pact.
North Hempstead Town Attorney Elizabeth Botwin said she was "certain" the municipalities would be successful when the suit is heard by Justice George Peck on March 9.
Walsh countered that OTB is a state agency exempt from local zoning. He said the closest home is in the Town of North Hempstead while the Fortunoff building is the Town of Hempstead -- nullifying the Hempstead zoning issue.
"North Hempstead has no role in our property," Walsh said.
The lawsuit also claims that OTB was legally required to perform an environmental review of the Fortunoff site before announcing its site selection.
Walsh said OTB would undertake the mandatory State Environmental Quality Review after signing a contract with Fortunoff's lenders and bondholders. They took ownership of the Fortunoff site in 2012 when a foreclosure auction attracted no buyers willing to pay off the $128 million debt on the site.
Palmieri declined to rule on the timing of the review.
OTB officials announced in December that they selected the Fortunoff store to build a gambling parlor with 1,000 video slot machines.
Opponents of the plan have packed hearings and protests. They say the mini-casino would lead to an increase in crime and traffic, hurt property values and damage Westbury's suburban quality of life.
A bipartisan group of local, county and state officials has joined the opposition. On Thursday, Legis. Norma Gonsalves (R-East Meadow), presiding officer of the Nassau County Legislature, announced that she and the majority GOP caucus were calling on OTB to find an alternative site.
OTB officials have said they were committed to the Fortunoff site. They say the project would create 200 jobs and generate $150 million in annual revenue, including $68 million to boost state education funding and $20 million for Nassau.
Belmont Park on June 6, 2014 in Elmont. Photo Credit: Getty Images / Streeter Lecka
Spin Cycle
News, views and commentary on Long Island, state and national politics.
ALBANY - Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has rejected a bill that would have allowed Nassau County Off-Track Betting Corp. to get a share of revenue from a local competitor -- Belmont Park.
Cuomo executed a “pocket veto” by not acting on it by a midnight Thursday deadline. By the governor’s not signing or vetoing by the deadline, the bill is automatically vetoed.
The measure would have forced the New York Racing Association, which owns Belmont, to share some of the revenue currently being generated at Belmont Café, which simulcasts horse races from around the country. Nassau OTB has argued that Belmont Café is a de facto off-track betting parlor and is cutting into its business.
The state Legislature passed a bill in June that effectively would force the sides to talk. The bill was sponsored by Sen. Jack Martins (R-Mineola) and then-Assemb. Harvey Weisenberg (D-Long Beach).
Andrew Cuomo, the man who hates Greek believers, because it is good to do so.
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.
Cuomo executed a “pocket veto” by not acting on it by a midnight Thursday deadline. By the governor’s not signing or vetoing by the deadline, the bill is automatically vetoed.
The measure would have forced the New York Racing Association, which owns Belmont, to share some of the revenue currently being generated at Belmont Café, which simulcasts horse races from around the country. Nassau OTB has argued that Belmont Café is a de facto off-track betting parlor and is cutting into its business.
The state Legislature passed a bill in June that effectively would force the sides to talk. The bill was sponsored by Sen. Jack Martins (R-Mineola) and then-Assemb. Harvey Weisenberg (D-Long Beach).
Andrew Cuomo, the man who hates Greek believers, because it is good to do so.
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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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