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ALBANY — The call for a breakaway faction of Democrats in the State Senate to abandon its Republican allies and rejoin the party’s fold picked up a surprising supporter on Wednesday: Senator Simcha Felder, a Brooklyn Democrat who also sides with the Republicans.
Claude Solnik
Long Island Business News
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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.
Mr. Felder sent a letter urging Senator Jeffrey D. Klein, the leader of the faction, the eight-member Independent Democratic Conference, to “unconditionally and publicly rejoin the Democrats.”
The letter, dated Wednesday, was all the more striking because it came from Mr. Felder, who, within days of being elected to the Senate as a Democrat in 2012, declared that he would caucus with the Republicans.
It was unclear whether Mr. Felder’s call for the Independent Democratic Conference to reunite with the mainline Democrats would mean that he, too, would consider leaving the Republican conference. But his letter articulated a frustration with the tactics of the Independent Democratic Conference, which has grown in size and influence in recent months.
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“Who are you to decide what the legislative priorities are for loyal Democrats across New York State?” Mr. Felder wrote, urging Mr. Klein to “unify with your Democrat colleagues and not just highlight a handful of issues that attempt to distinguish you from the Republican conference.”
Mr. Felder’s letter may further complicate the perplexing political calculus in the Senate, which has been the scene of high drama in the last decade and simmering tension during the tenure of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who took office in 2011, the year that Mr. Klein and the Independent Democratic Conference split from the main group of Democrats in Albany.
Since then, the conference has helped Republicans rule, entering into a power-sharing agreement in 2012 and often garnering perks like larger offices and staffs. The partnership has continued even though there have sometimes technically been more Democrats in the Senate, if Mr. Felder and the conference members are counted.
With the election on Tuesday of Brian Benjamin to fill a vacant seat in Harlem, Democrats again hold a numerical majority, 32 to 31. But the mainline Democrats hold only 23 seats, after subtracting the eight Independent Democratic Conference members and Mr. Felder.
On Monday, Mr. Klein’s group began a campaign, Call the Roll, that asked Democrats to sign a pledge to uphold seven “key progressive issues,” including ones that have not been embraced by their Republican colleagues, like the expansion of abortion rights, public campaign finance and single-payer health care. The campaign was christened with a three-and-a-half-minute promotional video and a letter to all Democrats, including Mr. Felder, who Mr. Klein has previously said was responsible for tipping the balance of power in the Senate.
But Mr. Felder apparently did not appreciate the letter.
“I am in receipt of your unity pledge letter,” he wrote, adding, “And if it was not such a serious matter, I might find the letter entertaining, but I do not believe in misleading people.”
Shortly after Mr. Felder’s letter became public, the Independent Democratic Conference shot back, suggesting Mr. Felder — who sits in conference with Republicans — had shown his true political self.
“It’s telling that Simcha Felder didn’t sign the pledge,” said Candice Giove, a spokeswoman for the conference. “We now see where he stands on these seven crucial issues.”
Mr. Felder did not return a call seeking comment, but his office said that “his letter speaks for itself.”
Scott Reif, a spokesman for the Senate Republicans, said that “Senator Felder is a valued and trusted member of our conference,” adding that “working together, we have been able to accomplish many great things.”
Criticism of the Independent Democratic Conference intensified after the election of President Trump and the group’s collaboration with John J. Flanagan, the Long Island Republican who leads the Senate. Such criticisms have been given a new thrust this month as a series of articles in The New York Times revealed that three members of the Independent Democratic Conference received tens of thousands of dollars in stipends earmarked for other lawmakers, after being falsely identified as committee chairmen in payroll documents sent by Senate staff members. Five Republicans also received the questionable stipends.
Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the leader of the Senate Democratic Conference, also wrote to Mr. Klein and his members on Wednesday, asking them to unify “to pass progressive legislation to resist Donald Trump and serve as a beacon to a weary nation.” She asked the Independent Democratic Conference to pledge to reunite by June 16.
The calls for unity were echoed by national Democrats. Representative Keith Ellison of Minnesota, deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said Mr. Benjamin’s election in Harlem meant Democrats must unite to “bring together a Democratic majority in the New York State Senate.”
Mr. Felder’s letter concluded by suggesting he might unify with fellow Democrats, too, if the conference did. Mr. Felder has previously said he would side with whatever party would best serve his district, which includes a large population of Orthodox Jews.
“I would welcome unity if it effectuates my priority to have the greatest positive impact on my constituents and all New Yorkers,” he said.
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