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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.
New York Gov. Cuomo signs reproductive rights executive order ahead of Trump's Supreme Court pick
Gov. Andrew Cuomo reaffirms support for Roe v. Wade
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in New York City on the eve of President Trump announcing his Supreme Court pick.
In choosing Brett M. Kavanaugh, 53, to replace Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, President Trump opted for a Washington insider who, according to at least one measure, may be less conservative than Mr. Trump’s first Supreme Court nominee, Neil M. Gorsuch.
How Kavanaugh’s Ideology Compares With Other Federal Judges
Neil M. Gorsuch,
the president's first
Supreme Court appointee
Brett M.
Kavanaugh
80 judges
60
40
20
0
–2.0
–1.5
–1.0
–0.5
0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
More liberal
More conservative
Based on the campaign finance scores of all current and former federal district and court of appeals judges nominated since 1980. |Source: Database on Ideology, Money in Politics, and Elections; Adam Bonica, Stanford University Department of Political Science
According to an analysis based on political donations given before becoming a federal judge, Judge Kavanaugh is estimated to be more conservative than 66 percent of all other current and former federal judges nominated since 1980. Using the same measure, Justice Gorsuch was estimated to be more conservative than 85 percent. About 19 percent of Judge Kavanaugh’s donations went to Richard Cordray, a Democrat who worked with him at a Washington law firm.
If confirmed, Judge Kavanaugh, who is expected to be a reliable conservative, would replace Justice Kennedy, a Reagan appointee who often voted with the court’s liberal wing on social issues like abortion and gay rights.
Justices With Federal Experience Less Likely to Drift
No federal experience
Served as federal official
Note: Martin-Quinn ideology scores are based on voting patterns and are developed from the Supreme Court Database by Lee Epstein, Washington University in St. Louis. Chart shows Republican-appointed justices since 1969. |Source: Lee Epstein; Andrew D. Martin and Kevin Quinn, University of Michigan
With Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination, Mr. Trump has followed a more recent trend of picking judges who previously served as federal officials or judges in Washington, D.C. — those who are more likely to vote consistently with the ideology of the president who appointed them.
Before joining the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Judge Kavanaugh held several posts in the administration of George W. Bush, ultimately serving as his staff secretary. He also worked under Kenneth W. Starr, the independent counsel who investigated President Bill Clinton.
“Justices with D.C. experience are less likely to drift because presidents have much more information about who they are appointing,” said Lee Epstein, a law professor and political scientist at Washington University in St. Louis.
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