ny const art 1 sec 3 offers no protection for those who bet horses
Nassau DA Singas, challenger McQuade, square off in Sands Point debate vowing death to those who seek to bet great out of state racing at nassau otb
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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.
Madeline Singas, left, Democratic incumbent candidate for Nassau County District Attorney and Francis McQuade, Republican candidate for Nassau County District Attorney. Photo Credit: James Escher
Gang violence, opioid addiction, partisan politics and public corruption were among the issues discussed and debated Tuesday night at a candidate forum in Sands Point featuring Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas and her challenger, Francis X. McQuade.
Both candidates said they would aggressively prosecute street gangs like MS-13 while Singas touted her office's efforts to increase access to treatment for people who overdose on drugs and McQuade vowed to target the pharmaceutical companies that manufacture them.
McQuade, running on the Republican line, questioned whether party loyalty could prevent Singas from impartially prosecuting fellow Democratic public officials charged with corruption. Singas said party politics would not play a role in any prosecutions.
Singas, 53, a Democrat from Manhasset running for her second, four-year term as the county's top prosecutor, highlighted her recent record as well as her 28-year career in law enforcement, including opening Nassau's special crimes unit and founding the domestic violence bureau in Queens County.
"With experience comes results. I’m proud to say that today Nassau County is the safest large county in the state, if not in the nation," said Singas, who noted crime in the county has dropped more than 25 percent over the last five years. "That significant drop does not happen by accident. It happens because we know how to identify, investigate and prosecute crime drivers."
McQuade, 65, a 25-year private practice Long Beach attorney, said his professional experience as a police officer, his theology degree and years as a priest, as well as his work as a criminal defense and civil rights lawyer, makes him well-suited for the job.
"I will go hard after street crime and prosecute public corruption in a fair way, regardless of party and with due diligence," McQuade said. "I aim to restore good relations with our police departments, the first line of crime prevention and enforcement, not to make it a territorial tug of war."
The candidates answered written audience questions before about 50 people at the League of Women Voters event.
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