joseph mondello should kniw that his is not the only easter sunday and that ny const art 1 sec 3 is still on the books even though nyc otb is as dead as bush
at the close of nassau otb board of directors meetings joseph cairo often takes questions.
what is important is the nature and the quality of the response.
as you know, it has been opined, that a lawyer is nothing but a high priced errand boy and the ptrseident of nassau otb delegates to others.
Claude Solnik
Long Island Business News
2150 Smithtown Ave.
Ronkonkoma, NY 11779-7348
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.
George H.W. Bush’s personal
touch compared & contrasted
with those such as al d'amato collect from nassau otb for doing nothing or those who cannot keep an italian restaurant liked by all in the carle place branch of nassau otb. remind mondello that even people from trinidad must be able to buy a thoroughbred program when they come into 1063 hempstead turnpike to bet horses
The day George H.W. Bush took time to give a personal tour to a county leader.
Joseph and Linda Mondello with George H.W. Bush in an undated photo. Photo Credit: From Joseph N. Mondello
I’ve had the honor of greeting four U.S. presidents as they alighted Air Force One on visits to Long Island.
While each instance remains etched in my memory for the manner in which such a simple act underscores the dignity of what is the most powerful office in the free world, one of those moments stands out because it stood as a window into the
heart and soul of someone who I, and so many others, believe was one of the most decent humans to wield the power and shoulder the preternatural responsibility of our nation’s chief executive.
heart and soul of someone who I, and so many others, believe was one of the most decent humans to wield the power and shoulder the preternatural responsibility of our nation’s chief executive.
The 41st president, George H.W. Bush, and I were friends. Whether it was due to my support of his successful presidential bid in 1988 or a shared bond that developed over phone calls and handwritten notes that made their way among Levittown and Houston, Kennebunkport and Washington, I consider myself blessed to have shared a special relationship with such an incredible human.
He made it a point to inquire about spouses, the progress of a child’s schooling, or plans for that summer’s vacation (this particular visit was in the spring). He conveyed his best wishes to loved ones by name and followed up on personal matters that had been the subject of prior phone calls or letters. And he did all of this without anyone whispering prompts into his ear. It was a feat of memory that the most assiduous student could not have achieved. He remembered all of these folks and the personal details of their lives because he cared. Each in their own
way, my fellow greeters held a place in Bush’s heart.
So there I was, the son of immigrants, the product of Brooklyn’s notoriously hardscrabble Bedford-Stuyvesant section, standing on line to witness Air Force One as it rolled to a stop. After not too long, the doors were flung open and Bush bounded down the gangway.
Tall and angular, scion of privilege and wealth, product of some of the nation’s most elite schools, hero fighter pilot, he worked his way down the line of official greeters. It took only moments to sense that notwithstanding his pedigree, Bush was nothing like the caricature of the aloof patrician his political opponents, often successfully, used to define him. To meet him, to see him interact with people, was to see the man as he truly was: caring, compassionate, and to borrow a description that is used in focus groups to gauge how well a politician relates to the average voter — he was someone that “you’d like to have a beer with.”
As I stood at the end of the line, it struck me that he was taking his time. There
was no sign of the hurried, perfunctory queries of “How’s it going?” that many politicians use as a conversational crutch during never-ending hustles for votes.
was no sign of the hurried, perfunctory queries of “How’s it going?” that many politicians use as a conversational crutch during never-ending hustles for votes.
He made it a point to inquire about spouses, the progress of a child’s schooling, or plans for that summer’s vacation (this particular visit was in the spring). He conveyed his best wishes to loved ones by name and followed up on personal matters that had been the subject of prior phone calls or letters. And he did all of this without anyone whispering prompts into his ear. It was a feat of memory that the most assiduous student could not have achieved. He remembered all of these folks and the personal details of their lives because he cared. Each in their own
way, my fellow greeters held a place in Bush’s heart.
Then it was my turn.
come on fown to 1063 hempstead turnpike and talk and listen
you will hardly ever see nassau itb employees attend otb board of directors meetings
come on fown to 1063 hempstead turnpike and talk and listen
you will hardly ever see nassau itb employees attend otb board of directors meetings
Nassau GOP chair intends to collect fat paychecks for 3 jobs
On the heels of pay-to-play corruption scandals that have tarnished the Long Island GOP, the Nassau County Republic Party has elected a one-time disbarred lawyer to be its new leader — and the retirement-age politico intends to collect fat paychecks from three different jobs simultaneously.
Joseph Cairo, 72, the new chairman of the Nassau County Republican Party, is also head of the Nassau County Off-Track Betting Corporation. He’s paid $198,000 at OTB.
The long-time No. 2 to former Nassau GOP boss Joe Mondello had his law license yanked in the 1990s for misusing client funds. His license was reinstated and the politically-connected lawyer now has an established law practice, GOP sources said.
He also has not ruled out collecting a third paycheck from the Nassau GOP.
Mondello, his predecessor, made more than $250,000 last year as GOP boss, and pulled in $1.5 million from his private law practice and real estate investments, records filed with the government show.
At one time, Mondello also simultaneously headed the Nassau GOP and OTB.
Cairo’s law office is in Valley Stream, his OTB’s corporate office is in Mineola and Nassau GOP headquarters is in Westbury.
A Post reporter found him at GOP headquarters.
Cairo said he was not relinquishing his OTB executive job or suspending his law practice after taking the reins of the GOP.
“I’ve been at OTB. This is a crucial time at OTB with possibly sports gambling coming so we’re deeply involved with that there now,” Cairo said.
“This is a political position. My attorneys tell me there is no conflict and I think having a position in a political party is such that it’s been done in the past by people on both sides of the aisle. And I think it’s currently done, too, in some other counties — their elected officials are also party chairmen,” he said.
But watchdogs have long complained that allowing people to simultaneously hold top positions in government and party leadership opens the door to conflicts of interests and potential corruption.
“It’s business as usual. This is an example of the rotten political system in Nassau County,” said George Marlin, who formerly served on the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority, a state agency set up to monitor the county’s shaky finances.
Marlin said the multiple paid gigs for Cairo is remarkable, especially after the Nassau Republicans lost the county executive’s race and the Town of Hempstead supervisor’s race last year amid concerns over corruption.
“They’ve learned nothing,” Marlin said. “They don’t care.”
Cairo chalked up the suspension of his law license to a mistake from the distant past.
“I think that’s something that happened — it was earlier than ‘95, that’s 25 years ago, and I think people who know me know the type of person I am,” he said.
With that, Cairo grabbed a suit jacket from a parked black Cadillac before jumping into the passenger seat of a Jaguar driven by a friend.
Cairo is right about one thing. On Long Island particularly, politicians simultaneously collecting hefty paychecks from top government and political party posts is a time-honored tradition.
The Post reported last week that Rich Schaffer is drawing down a combined $350,000 from three paychecks as head of the Suffolk County Democratic Party, as the full-time Town of Babylon Supervisor and from a law practice that includes representing plumbing contractors.
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