Monday, April 13, 2020

JOHN PRICCI - ON THE LINE

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12 Responses

  2. “Cairo said he would instruct his agency’s counsel to “review the situation.” 
    The optics of the last few years on LI begs the question, to “review” the situation or bury it? 
    Why not simply bring it all out in the open. No sweat if nothing nebulous or underhanded occurred? Why not allow Nassau and Suffolk County taxpayers a sense of satisfaction and peace of mind by providing a full disclosure of the somewhat questionable OTB contract revisions to the Nassau and Suffolk District Attorney’s Offices for their review? 
    Can’t we all see what transpired behind the curtains of hidden political deal making? Or does “review” simply imply all of this lands in a document shredder on top the GOP Ethics Officer’s desk. So who should we be calling? Anyone have the number for the DA?
    Reply
  3. McD, it’s the standard reply for “I don’t want or will not answer, next question, please.” It’s the full brother to “going to look it.” Like so many things that are obvious to honest people with open minds and three-digit IQs, some things are obvious.
    Off Topic: great, well-sourced piece with four bylines in the “failing New York TImes,” on the WH’s delayed response on the pandemic might interest you if you haven’t yet read it: Devastating time-line material.
    Reply
  4. Den, with Capital having it’s own TV and phone betting network that acts as a hub for OTBs throughout the state, I don’t see them shutting all doors but it could happen, obviously. Doubtlessly, there are highly likely to be furloughs unless they too apply for the Payroll Protection Program that could amount to a no payback loan if they keep their employees working. Social distancing and crowd size are other issues.
    Reply
  5. Don’t you think that a true union present or business agent would protect its members by at the very least, calling local 237, Suffolk OTB union and finding out what they were doing and propose to OTB management that they do the same? What a shame that our union president and business agent didn’t think it was necessary to make a simple phone call to protect its members. I guess protecting his political position was more important than fighting for his union members which he has demonstrated since OTB was forced to merge with 707.
    Reply
    1. agreed . Suffolk county legislator Kevin McCaffrey president of Teamsters Local 707 and Business Agent and Local 707 Trustee and part time OTB Manager Laura Campione.
      It is also surprising that the members of SEC outside Nassau OTB have not demanded that the Securities and Exchange Commission examine the books and revirds of the Local 707 Pension Fund, Kevin McCaffrey Trustee.
      Reply
  6. E Wicks,
    Hence the conflict of interest! Thanks for checking in and for shedding additional light…
    Reply
  7. TO ALL: Received a personal email that shed further light on political machinations that occur on Long Island. If any want to follow up with the author below on a personal basis, to either agree or refute, I will be a conduit for the hookup. The HRI comment section mission is to provide an open forum… 
    “Mr. Pricci, your article about the political shenanigans behind Nassau Downs was a good start. Joe Cairo’s executive deputy is one John Tufarelli, who also serves as Village Trustee in the Village of Valley Stream.
    “Tufarelli secured a job for Cairo’s attorney daughter as the counsel for the village’s Board of Zoning Appeals.
    “Further, while countless Americans are losing their jobs, not just Tufarelli’s OTB subordinates, Tufarelli secured a high paying job for his son at the Town of Hempstead, along with two other connected patronage appointments. I have supporting documents if you are interested.
    “Also, Cairo’s frequent business partner Butch Yamali, known for not paying municipalities for the contracts Cairo arranges for him, also has the refreshment concession contract for Nassau Downs. I’m pretty sure if you looked into that you would find Yamali is also not paying OTB.”
    Reply
  8. John,
    No surprise Nassau OTB was never run to make a profit. It was a patronage organization for politicians. I don’t think anyone should be surprised. Many years ago when they opened The Palace you could see not much thought was given to making a profit.
    Reply
    1. Aaron,
      Ironically, The Palace, which was meant to keep deep-pocketed horseplayers from driving to the Suffolk OTB Teletheater in Hauppague was successful in that respect. 
      The problem was that it also helped killed off some of the surrounding OTB shops in Nassau County.
      Reply
      1. John,
        Agree,knew players who were going to the Suffolk Forum who ended up at the Palace.There were quite a few really big players.Somehow despite those big players Nassau OTB still failed to make a profit.I have spent a good amount at Nassau OTB and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see how mismanaged the branches were.The betting machines are old and have never been updated.It is just a poorly run operation,like most Racing operations.
        Reply
  9. Bill calls for requiring judges to give reason for recusal
    JESSE COBURN FOR NEWSDAY January 07, 2020 ISSUE: JUDGES HEMPSTEAD TOWN BOARDBILL RECUSAL
    Originally published in Newsday on January 07, 2020.
    Sen. Todd Kaminsky is introducing state legislation Wednesday that would require judges to provide a reason when they recuse themselves from cases, citing a spate of unexplained recusals from litigation involving the Town of Hempstead.
    Kaminsky said he is proposing the legislation in response to the legal fight between Hempstead and Double Eagle Golf, the former operator of a town-owned golf course in Lido Beach. Three state Supreme Court judges in Nassau County recused themselves from the case in rapid succession late last year without explanation. Kaminsky said such instances could diminish public confidence in the judicial process.
    “When you leave the public to speculate why a given judge might not want to handle a given case … I don’t think it’s helpful,” said Kaminsky, a Democrat whose district includes the golf course. “Especially with a case having such a political back story.”
    Double Eagle operated the Lido Beach Golf Course from 1997 to 2017, when its contract expired and the town retook control of the facility. The company sued Hempstead in May 2017, arguing the town owed it $776,400 for capital improvements it carried out following superstorm Sandy in 2012. The town countersued, saying the company was contractually obligated to cover such costs, but the company had let the facility deteriorate.
    The company and town reached an $85,000 settlement in April 2019. In October, however, Hempstead’s former supervisor, Laura Gillen, a Democrat, expressed concern about the settlement in an affidavit, noting Double Eagle had paid a company controlled by Nassau County GOP chairman Joseph Cairo $922,800 from 1999 to 2014 for work related to the course.
    Cairo was not the chairman at the time. He ascended to that post in May 2018 after serving more than a decade as vice chairman. A former Hempstead councilman, he previously told Newsday he consulted Double Eagle on “business decisions and transactions.”
    “Nothing unethical was done,” he said. “I represented them at a time when I had no relationship with the town.”
    The three judges then recused themselves from the case in as many weeks: Timothy Driscoll on Oct. 29, Vito DeStefano on Nov. 15 and Jerome Murphy on Nov. 19. None provided a reason. An administrative judge then transferred the case to a judge in Westchester County.
    The Hempstead Town Board unanimously voted down the settlement in November.
    Kaminsky’s bill would require judges to offer a written or on-the-record reason when they recuse themselves. They are not currently required to do so, a court spokesman said.
    The bill would make an exception when the explanation “will result in embarrassment” or is “of a compelling personal nature.”
    The Double Eagle case “really evidenced a lack of transparency with our judicial system,” Kaminsky said. “Having that extra transparency will help undergird the credibility of our judicial system.”
    Reply
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