they expect nassau itb to be open when there is great out of state racing to be be
the have no love for otbs no show no work robbers including al d'amsto meara and lieberman
newsday endorsed kevin mccaffrey labor racketeer who colludes and conspires with joseph cairo
ny pml sec 109 iolates ny const art 1 sec rights
newsday eirks for pope andrew cuomo not nassau otb bettors and or workers
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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.
Law to require paid leave to let workers vote on Election Day makes no sense . it applies to all public elections. any questions about ny elec law 3-110 should be directed to the ny state board of elections.
The new M9 LIRR train on Sept. 10 in Hicksville. Photo Credit: Howard Schnapp
All week, voters had the opportunity to head to the polls, with more chances this weekend, too.
So why would they need extra time off on Tuesday to vote? The simple answer: They don't.
Yet, now that Democrats control Albany, a broad new law they enacted allows every worker in New York just that: three hours of paid time off to vote on Election Day. Employees need give their supervisors only 48 hours notice, and they don't need to show they're unable to vote without the time off, prove they voted, or even that they're registered to vote.
The absurd measure, stuffed into the budget and passed in April by the State Legislature and signed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, makes no sense in light of other smart changes such as early voting. It's not only unnecessary, it's also expensive and disruptive.
We won't know the real workplace impact until next week. But consider the disconcerting possibilities if many train conductors and bus drivers, emergency room doctors and nurses, or police officers and firefighters, all take time off. The alternative, in some cases, seems to be spending taxpayer money to avoid the worst-case scenarios.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority doled out overtime pay to keep Long Island Rail Road trains running on a primary day in June. Now, the MTA has what it hopes is a better plan, offering certain employees four hours of extra pay in exchange for not taking the three hours paid time off on Election Day itself. That could cost taxpayers millions of dollars to keep the trains moving.
The MTA's generosity comes in the context of contract negotiations that have exploded into ugly public rhetoric directed by union leaders at MTA management, most recently at a union rally Wednesday. Perhaps the Election Day incentive was a way to prevent an unofficial work stoppage.
While the MTA's need to maintain train and bus service on Election Day is clear, the extra-pay contingency doesn't bode well for future negotiations. It'll be up to MTA management — and Cuomo — to hold their ground when it comes to much-needed changes to contracts and work rules, even in the face of a strike threat.
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