Gov. Cuomo Signs Order Banning nassau otb from violating rights secured by ny const art 1 sec 3
Claude Solnik
Long Island Business News
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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.
Gov. Cuomo Signs Order Banning N.Y. From Doing Business With Companies That Discriminate
State officials didn’t specify what companies or contracts the directive might affect
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo spoke on Saturday night at a gala for the Human Rights Campaign, which advocates for people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer. PHOTO: JASON DECROW/ASSOCIATED PRESS/HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed an executive order barring state agencies from doing business with companies that “promote or tolerate discrimination,” a move he portrayed as standing up to the federal government.
“Today I’m signing an executive order prohibiting New York state government from doing any business with any entity that discriminates against any New Yorker, period,” Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, said Saturday night at a gala for the Human Rights Campaign, which advocates for people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer.
In an announcement about the order on Sunday, state officials said the federal government has moved to roll back critical civil-rights protections, including banning transgender people from serving in the military. A White House spokeswoman didn’t respond to a request for comment.
State officials didn’t specify what particular companies or contracts the ban might affect. A spokeswoman for Mr. Cuomo said Sunday it applies to every firm that does business with the state, ranging from telecom to construction to food-supply companies.
The executive order directs the state’s Office of General Services and Division of Human Rights to issue guidelines by May 1. The order affects all agencies and departments over which the governor has executive authority, officials said. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said the order doesn’t apply to it because it is a bistate agency.
However a spokesman said the agency “has zero tolerance for companies that engage in discriminatory practices.”
Mr. Cuomo has tied New York state spending to social issues in the past. In March of 2016, he banned nonessential, state-funded travel to North Carolina after that state passed a measure requiring transgender people to use bathrooms corresponding to the gender on their birth certificates. New York’s ban affected groups including a basketball team and bus workers. North Carolina’s governor at the time called the move “ridiculous.”
The North Carolina ban had no adverse effect on New York state’s economy, said James Parrott, director of economic and fiscal policy at the New School’s Center for New York City Affairs. He said the new order similarly was unlikely to hurt the state.
“It’s probably a positive message for the state economically in that it really underscores that we’re tolerant and open to all people and businesses,” he added.
Write to Corinne Ramey at Corinne.Ramey@wsj.com
Appeared in the February 5, 2018, print edition as 'Cuomo Bans Dealings With Firms That Discriminate.'
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo spoke on Saturday night at a gala for the Human Rights Campaign, which advocates for people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer. PHOTO: JASON DECROW/ASSOCIATED PRESS/HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed an executive order barring state agencies from doing business with companies that “promote or tolerate discrimination,” a move he portrayed as standing up to the federal government.
“Today I’m signing an executive order prohibiting New York state government from doing any business with any entity that discriminates against any New Yorker, period,” Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, said Saturday night at a gala for the Human Rights Campaign, which advocates for people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer.
In an announcement about the order on Sunday, state officials said the federal government has moved to roll back critical civil-rights protections, including banning transgender people from serving in the military. A White House spokeswoman didn’t respond to a request for comment.
State officials didn’t specify what particular companies or contracts the ban might affect. A spokeswoman for Mr. Cuomo said Sunday it applies to every firm that does business with the state, ranging from telecom to construction to food-supply companies.
The executive order directs the state’s Office of General Services and Division of Human Rights to issue guidelines by May 1. The order affects all agencies and departments over which the governor has executive authority, officials said. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said the order doesn’t apply to it because it is a bistate agency.
However a spokesman said the agency “has zero tolerance for companies that engage in discriminatory practices.”
Mr. Cuomo has tied New York state spending to social issues in the past. In March of 2016, he banned nonessential, state-funded travel to North Carolina after that state passed a measure requiring transgender people to use bathrooms corresponding to the gender on their birth certificates. New York’s ban affected groups including a basketball team and bus workers. North Carolina’s governor at the time called the move “ridiculous.”
The North Carolina ban had no adverse effect on New York state’s economy, said James Parrott, director of economic and fiscal policy at the New School’s Center for New York City Affairs. He said the new order similarly was unlikely to hurt the state.
“It’s probably a positive message for the state economically in that it really underscores that we’re tolerant and open to all people and businesses,” he added.
Write to Corinne Ramey at Corinne.Ramey@wsj.com
Appeared in the February 5, 2018, print edition as 'Cuomo Bans Dealings With Firms That Discriminate.'
N.Y. From Doing Business With Companies That Discriminate
State officials didn’t specify what companies or contracts the directive might affect
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo spoke on Saturday night at a gala for the Human Rights Campaign, which advocates for people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer. PHOTO: JASON DECROW/ASSOCIATED PRESS/HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed an executive order barring state agencies from doing business with companies that “promote or tolerate discrimination,” a move he portrayed as standing up to the federal government.
“Today I’m signing an executive order prohibiting New York state government from doing any business with any entity that discriminates against any New Yorker, period,” Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, said Saturday night at a gala for the Human Rights Campaign, which advocates for people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer.
In an announcement about the order on Sunday, state officials said the federal government has moved to roll back critical civil-rights protections, including banning transgender people from serving in the military. A White House spokeswoman didn’t respond to a request for comment.
State officials didn’t specify what particular companies or contracts the ban might affect. A spokeswoman for Mr. Cuomo said Sunday it applies to every firm that does business with the state, ranging from telecom to construction to food-supply companies.
The executive order directs the state’s Office of General Services and Division of Human Rights to issue guidelines by May 1. The order affects all agencies and departments over which the governor has executive authority, officials said. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said the order doesn’t apply to it because it is a bistate agency.
However a spokesman said the agency “has zero tolerance for companies that engage in discriminatory practices.”
Mr. Cuomo has tied New York state spending to social issues in the past. In March of 2016, he banned nonessential, state-funded travel to North Carolina after that state passed a measure requiring transgender people to use bathrooms corresponding to the gender on their birth certificates. New York’s ban affected groups including a basketball team and bus workers. North Carolina’s governor at the time called the move “ridiculous.”
The North Carolina ban had no adverse effect on New York state’s economy, said James Parrott, director of economic and fiscal policy at the New School’s Center for New York City Affairs. He said the new order similarly was unlikely to hurt the state.
“It’s probably a positive message for the state economically in that it really underscores that we’re tolerant and open to all people and businesses,” he added.
Write to Corinne Ramey at Corinne.Ramey@wsj.com
Appeared in the February 5, 2018, print edition as 'Cuomo Bans Dealings With Firms That Discriminate.'
