The politicians of the State of New York and Nassau County care little about people who play horses and/or work.
Would any sane business close days when customers want to bet?
No.
HI-
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the help. The item’s below. I’d be happy to mail you a copy,
if you give me a mailing address.
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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.
Players watch the first race at Aqueduct at Nassau OTB Farmingdale branch. (March 26, 2011) Photo Credit: Newsday/Karen Wiles Stabile
Nassau
County Executive Edward Mangano opposes a casino with 1,000 video
lottery terminals at the site of the large, vacant Fortunoff store in
south Westbury, but he knows he can't stop it. Only the Nassau Regional
Off-Track Betting Corp. and the state Gaming Commission have any say in
site selection.
That's a good thing, actually, because this is a fight Mangano cannot afford to win. The county executive's future budgets desperately need the millions of dollars the slot parlor will provide, but he says he doesn't like the site OTB and the state commission chose on Old Country Road.
His preference? OTB's Race Palace in Plainview, already rejected by the organizations empowered to decide. Mangano has supported that location for as long as the idea of VLTs in Nassau County has been seriously discussed. But the Race Palace is too small, already hosts a busy racing teletheater and restaurant that use the available space, and has its own traffic problems. It also has no room for 1,000 additional parking spots, while the Fortunoff site has an excess of capacity. Building a garage at the Race Palace would cost at least $25 million, according to OTB officials, money that then would not go to the county's bottom line.
CartoonMatt Davies' latest cartoon: Drawings of Muhammad CommentSubmit your letter Reader essaysGet published in Newsday Officials involved in the deal say there is not the slightest chance the slot parlor will be located at the Race Palace. And if the Race Palace location were under consideration, it would face as much opposition as the Fortunoff site. Any site in Nassau would.
In a year when county legislative and town offices are on the ballot, local officials are bellowing full-throatedly in opposition to the Fortunoff site. For most it's pandering. And they do so without providing a alternative site for a casino that both Nassau County and Nassau OTB are counting on to avoid financial ruin.
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That's a good thing, actually, because this is a fight Mangano cannot afford to win. The county executive's future budgets desperately need the millions of dollars the slot parlor will provide, but he says he doesn't like the site OTB and the state commission chose on Old Country Road.
His preference? OTB's Race Palace in Plainview, already rejected by the organizations empowered to decide. Mangano has supported that location for as long as the idea of VLTs in Nassau County has been seriously discussed. But the Race Palace is too small, already hosts a busy racing teletheater and restaurant that use the available space, and has its own traffic problems. It also has no room for 1,000 additional parking spots, while the Fortunoff site has an excess of capacity. Building a garage at the Race Palace would cost at least $25 million, according to OTB officials, money that then would not go to the county's bottom line.
CartoonMatt Davies' latest cartoon: Drawings of Muhammad CommentSubmit your letter Reader essaysGet published in Newsday Officials involved in the deal say there is not the slightest chance the slot parlor will be located at the Race Palace. And if the Race Palace location were under consideration, it would face as much opposition as the Fortunoff site. Any site in Nassau would.
In a year when county legislative and town offices are on the ballot, local officials are bellowing full-throatedly in opposition to the Fortunoff site. For most it's pandering. And they do so without providing a alternative site for a casino that both Nassau County and Nassau OTB are counting on to avoid financial ruin.
IN BRIEF
IN BRIEF; Nassau OTB Plans A 'Racing Palace'
By Stewart Ain
Published: May 25, 2003
In a move that could add $4 million to the Nassau
County budget, the Nassau Off-Track Betting Corporation plans to open
the Race Palace, a betting hall in Plainview dominated by a wall of
television screens capable of simulcasting 17 different sporting events
worldwide.
''We want to connote to everybody that this is an
upscale place,'' said Lawrence J. Aaronson, the corporation's president.
''When some people think of OTB, they think of a New York City sidewalk
location. This is a classy, Art Deco, extremely upscale building.''
The building now houses the Vanderbilt catering
hall. Mr. Aaronson said he expected to complete the purchase of the
building this week for $6.35 million. ''We're looking to finance this
for $8.2 million, which includes about $2 million in renovations,'' he
said.
Plans call for the first floor to be leased back to
the Morey Organization, which will continue to operate the Palmers
restaurant and bar that opened in March. The second floor will house the
OTB operation, which will include 200 theater seats and 120 desks with
personal television screens, and a smaller bar and restaurant.
This will be the first racing theater in Nassau, and
Mr. Aaronson said he expects it to bring in $2 million for the county
in the first year and $3 million to $4 million by the second and third
years.
In each of the last two years, OTB made a profit for the county of $20 million. Stewart Ain
SPANISH RAYMOND AND THOSE THAT HE WORKED FOR OFFER TO COME OUT OF RETIREMENT AND SHOW NASSAU COUNTY, THAT NASSAU OTB MAY BE RUN BETTER THAN IT IS/HAS BEEN RUN.
THE WORK ETHIC IS NOT WHAT IT ONCE WAS?
The long closed Fortunoff store at
the Source Mall in Westbury on Dec. 30, 2014. Photo
Credit: Newsday / Thomas A. Ferrara
SPANISH RAYMOND AND THOSE THAT HE WORKED FOR OFFER TO COME OUT OF RETIREMENT AND SHOW NASSAU COUNTY, THAT NASSAU OTB MAY BE RUN BETTER THAN IT IS/HAS BEEN RUN.
THE WORK ETHIC IS NOT WHAT IT ONCE WAS?
Raymond Márquez - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Márquez
Jump to Harlem numbers racket and legal battles - The runners are those who solicited the wagers from ... nicknamed him "Spanish Raymond", a moniker ...
Wikipedia
The long closed Fortunoff store at
the Source Mall in Westbury on Dec. 30, 2014. Photo
Credit: Newsday / Thomas A. Ferrara
Nassau
County Executive Edward Mangano Monday joined the growing list of
elected officials who oppose a plan to build a new casino-style gaming
parlor at the vacant Fortunoff property in Westbury.
Nassau Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. announced last month that it had selected the property off Old Country Road to house 1,000 video slot machines approved by the State Legislature in 2013 as a revenue generator for the county. Suffolk OTB also sought and received permission to install 1,000 terminals, and is planning to put its video lottery terminal casino in Medford.
Mangano used Twitter Monday to disclose his opposition, saying: "While I have no jurisdiction over the matter and given the many questions to be addressed, I stand with residents in opposition to Fortunoff as the site of gaming in Nassau and have made my position known to OTB."
StoryVacant store chosen as site for gambling parlor Legislation leads way for LI gambling parlors While Mangano and other local officials say they have no regulatory authority over the VLT sites, the opposition of the county's top elected official could carry significant weight, said Westbury Mayor Peter Cavallaro.
Cavallaro said Mangano's opposition could "certainly help" influence OTB officials.
"Not one elected official has come out in favor of the site, and that has to count for something," Cavallaro said.
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A spokesman for the state Gaming Commission emphasized
that the panel's authority "is limited to ensuring that the standards of
location for a new simulcast theater or new off-track betting branch
have been satisfied." Site selection is "wholly a function" of the local
OTB corporations, whose boards of directors are selected by the county
legislature, said communications director Lee Park.
Mangano, a Republican who has sought to close county budget deficits with controversial initiatives to raise property taxes and place speed cameras outside schools, joined a bipartisan group of Nassau officials opposed to the Fortunoff site. They include Republican Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray, Democratic North Hempstead Supervisor Judi Bosworth, Nassau County Legis. Siela Bynoe (D-Westbury), Democratic North Hempstead Councilwoman Viviana Russell and Cavallaro, a Republican.
Nassau OTB officials said in a statement Monday that they looked forward to working with Mangano and elected officials "to address the issues and concerns of local residents that have arisen as a result of the possible siting of a VLT facility in a small portion of the former Fortunoff flagship store."
Mangano, a Bethpage resident, has said he prefers putting the gaming machines at the off-track betting site Race Palace in Plainview. But that site was rejected by OTB after criticism from neighboring residents about increased traffic and its proximity to schools.
Michael Dawidziak, a Bohemia political consultant who works mostly with Republicans, said public officials such as Mangano may not risk much by opposing the Fortunoff site.
"You can always argue it's in the wrong place and there'd be too much traffic. There's a lot of arguments you can use and probably still be on the side of the angels here, without going too far out on a limb," Dawidziak said. "I think it's kind of a freebie, because what's the counter-argument? If it were a huge moneymaker for the state, maybe it'd be different."
Suffolk is expected to break ground on its facility this year. Last October, Suffolk OTB closed on a $10.95 million deal to buy a 31-acre former Medford movie multiplex, which it will refurbish into a gaming facility. The casino will be run by Delaware North, a Buffalo-based gaming and hospitality company.
A spokeswoman for Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said because OTB functions independently from the county, Bellone had no comment on the site, other than suggesting that OTB "work closely with the local municipalities."
Bellone and Mangano backed the initial state legislation permitting the VLTs.
A community forum to discuss the Fortunoff site is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday at St. Brigid Our Lady of Hope Regional School Auditorium, 101 Maple Ave. in Westbury.
With Robert Brodsky
and Paul LaRocco
Nassau Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. announced last month that it had selected the property off Old Country Road to house 1,000 video slot machines approved by the State Legislature in 2013 as a revenue generator for the county. Suffolk OTB also sought and received permission to install 1,000 terminals, and is planning to put its video lottery terminal casino in Medford.
Mangano used Twitter Monday to disclose his opposition, saying: "While I have no jurisdiction over the matter and given the many questions to be addressed, I stand with residents in opposition to Fortunoff as the site of gaming in Nassau and have made my position known to OTB."
StoryVacant store chosen as site for gambling parlor Legislation leads way for LI gambling parlors While Mangano and other local officials say they have no regulatory authority over the VLT sites, the opposition of the county's top elected official could carry significant weight, said Westbury Mayor Peter Cavallaro.
Cavallaro said Mangano's opposition could "certainly help" influence OTB officials.
"Not one elected official has come out in favor of the site, and that has to count for something," Cavallaro said.
Mangano, a Republican who has sought to close county budget deficits with controversial initiatives to raise property taxes and place speed cameras outside schools, joined a bipartisan group of Nassau officials opposed to the Fortunoff site. They include Republican Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray, Democratic North Hempstead Supervisor Judi Bosworth, Nassau County Legis. Siela Bynoe (D-Westbury), Democratic North Hempstead Councilwoman Viviana Russell and Cavallaro, a Republican.
Nassau OTB officials said in a statement Monday that they looked forward to working with Mangano and elected officials "to address the issues and concerns of local residents that have arisen as a result of the possible siting of a VLT facility in a small portion of the former Fortunoff flagship store."
Mangano, a Bethpage resident, has said he prefers putting the gaming machines at the off-track betting site Race Palace in Plainview. But that site was rejected by OTB after criticism from neighboring residents about increased traffic and its proximity to schools.
Michael Dawidziak, a Bohemia political consultant who works mostly with Republicans, said public officials such as Mangano may not risk much by opposing the Fortunoff site.
"You can always argue it's in the wrong place and there'd be too much traffic. There's a lot of arguments you can use and probably still be on the side of the angels here, without going too far out on a limb," Dawidziak said. "I think it's kind of a freebie, because what's the counter-argument? If it were a huge moneymaker for the state, maybe it'd be different."
Suffolk is expected to break ground on its facility this year. Last October, Suffolk OTB closed on a $10.95 million deal to buy a 31-acre former Medford movie multiplex, which it will refurbish into a gaming facility. The casino will be run by Delaware North, a Buffalo-based gaming and hospitality company.
A spokeswoman for Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said because OTB functions independently from the county, Bellone had no comment on the site, other than suggesting that OTB "work closely with the local municipalities."
Bellone and Mangano backed the initial state legislation permitting the VLTs.
A community forum to discuss the Fortunoff site is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday at St. Brigid Our Lady of Hope Regional School Auditorium, 101 Maple Ave. in Westbury.
With Robert Brodsky
and Paul LaRocco
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