Lobbyist’s income has tripled since Heastie became speaker & ny pml sec 109 will not die despite ny const art 1 sec 3 until some kid decides that like the wandering dago food truck it takes one or more lawsuits to make 'em pay
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.
It pays to be a pal of the Assembly speaker.
Patrick Jenkins, a longtime friend and $4,000-a-month political adviser to Speaker Carl Heastie, who replaced corrupt Sheldon Silver in the powerful post, has seen his lobbying business triple since his buddy became speaker last year, according to records reviewed by The Post.
The number of lobbying clients represented by Patrick B. Jenkins & Associates skyrocketed from nine during the 2013-2014 legislative session to 27 in 2015-2016 sessions — making Heastie’s chum an emerging Albany power broker, records filed with the New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics show.
There’s a good reason folks with business before the statehouse hire Jenkins: He has the new speaker’s ear, as their close relationship goes back to being dorm mates while they attended SUNY Stony Brook.
It’s no different than when Patricia Lynch was the “go to” lobbyist for clients seeking access and favorable action from Silver, according to Albany sources. Lynch had served as Silver’s communications director before becoming a lobbyist.
“You hire a lobbyist for access,” said Arthur Schwartz, a public-relations guru. “If I had a client who needed access to Heastie, it’s a no-brainer. I would hire Patrick Jenkins.”
For example, Jenkins landed a $12,500 joint monthly retainer from the major accounting firms Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG. That comes out to $150,000 a year.
Fantasy-sports firms DraftKings and FanDuel paid Jenkins’ firm $6,000 apiece monthly this year as they sought state approval to legalize their transactions in New York.
And Aqueduct Resorts World casino operator Genting pays Jenkins’ firm $240,000 a year.
Major security firms are also seeking Jenkins’ help. They include SecureWatch24, which provides defense for the Brooklyn Nets, and stun-gun maker Taser International.
He’s getting a piece of the action tied to New York’s legalization of medical marijuana, too: Cannabis cultivator Palliatech pays Jenkins’ firm $7,500 monthly.
The Post previously reported the unusual arrangement of Heastie paying Jenkins $4,000 a month as a campaign adviser while his pal lobbies him for a growing list of clients. They defended the arrangement.
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