cons are to kids as Greeks are to Cuomo

Nassau OTB must be open 365 days of the year without religious preference. See eg NY Const. Art. 1, Sec. 3. Andrew Cuomo is a thief.  Any con knows that you cannot close Nassau OTB, a public benefit corporation on Roman Catholic Easter Sunday and Palm Sunday in preference to Greek Orthodox Easter Sunday and Palm Sunday. Send Andrew Cuomo back to school.


We will not take your money/bets when good races are being run all across the US that we want to bet.


Andrew Cuomo, the next President of Italy

NY Region

New York Racing Association Takes a Long Shot on the Horses

Three Racing Properties Getting $8.5 Million in Upgrades

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Pia Catton

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Updated April 4, 2014 1:38 p.m. ET

The Meadowlands Racing & Entertainment complex in East Rutherford, N.J., is bringing in a mix of diners, gamblers and nightclub goers. Mark Abramson for The Wall Street Journal

A fresh coat of paint and a truckload of TV screens go a long way—especially at an aging racetrack like Aqueduct.

But do they go far enough?

As the Queens-based thoroughbred track prepares to host Saturday's $1 million Wood Memorial, a prestigious prep race for the Kentucky Derby, it has been rushing to complete a nearly $6 million brush-up. Its walls now pop with color. Newly installed high-definition TVs—more than 800 of them—provide easy views of the races. And a long-delayed watering hole, Longshots, is poised to welcome guests to what looks like a Las Vegas-style multisport betting establishment.

The facelift is part of $8.5 million in upgrades recently announced by the track's operating body, the New York Racing Association, to be spread across its three properties: Aqueduct, Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course. Aimed at enhancing the guest experience, the initiative includes things like new seating, picnic tables and video boards.

Photos

• Behind the Scenes at New York's Race Tracks

But as these fading facilities compete with lotteries and Internet and casino gambling for bettor dollars, critics say the capital improvements are too long overdue—and too incremental.

"I think $6 million is maybe one-tenth what they should be spending," said Mike Repole, a horse owner and Queens native who founded Vitaminwater. "It's not even close to being enough."

Leonard Riggio, the former Barnes & Noble chief executive who now sits on the NYRA board, recently pushed for even more improvements, criticizing the Aqueduct facility as dirty and dangerous.

"You can't let the infrastructure fall apart," he said.

But while racetracks serving the sport of kings have languished, those showcasing harness racing, its working-class cousin, have been getting more of the royal treatment.

Last fall, the Meadowlands Racing & Entertainment complex in East Rutherford, N.J., opened a new $88 million facility with a shiny, modern prix-fixe restaurant, a sports-themed nightclub and a nearly 9,000-square-foot roof deck with Manhattan views.

At Yonkers Raceway and Empire City Casino in Yonkers, N.Y., a $50 million renovation to the adjacent casino added a glossy diner created by the consulting service of French chef Alain Ducasse.

As at most "racinos," the Yonkers casino and racetrack attract separate crowds. But, said Timothy J. Rooney, whose family acquired the track in 1972, "we've worked on integrating racing with the slot business."

Both facilities are privately owned. Meanwhile, NYRA, a not-for-profit corporation with a board largely controlled by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, is in the process of crafting a master plan for its properties that is due to the governor by April 2015.

One option on the table: privatizing the tracks.

The stakes are high for New York: Belmont hosts the third jewel of the Triple Crown; Saratoga is one of the few U.S. tracks to retain the charm and prestige of racing; and Aqueduct's winter racing gives NYRA nearly year-round activity.

Together, the races at the three tracks are simulcast nationally and internationally, which generates income all year. "NYRA is a huge content provider," said Elizabeth Bracken, who teaches at the University of Arizona's Race Track Industry Program and formerly ran NYRA's simulcasting operation.

"The whole industry needs them to be strong and move forward," she said.

But running daily races at largely empty grandstands can create the perception that racing is a lost cause. It doesn't help that hard-core horseplayers wager so easily online. This issue is one local harness tracks owners say they have been working to address.

Yonkers Raceway once drew about 20,000 a night. Today, it averages about 1,000, said Mr. Rooney. "We didn't do any marketing for racing in the old days," he said. "Now, we're doing everything we can."

At the Meadowlands, Chairman Jeff Gural —who signed a 30-year lease to operate the facility—built a new grandstand that holds about 10,000 people. The old one fit 35,000.

"It's a little depressing to come to an empty building," said Mr. Gural.

One Saturday in March, its sleek restaurant Pink was booked by noon. That evening, at the sports-themed nightclub Victory, Jeffrey Naberezny, 34, of Hoboken, was poring over the racing program with a female companion. It was his second visit since November, he said.

Before that, he said, the last time he came to the track was at about age 18.

In 2013, the Meadowlands altered its race cards and wagering options, boosting the total money bet by 32% over 2012. Bets placed at the track, by contrast, were virtually flat from 2012 to 2013. For 2014, Mr. Gural has set a goal of a 20% increase.

By comparison, at NYRA's three tracks, the 2013 total was down slightly from 2012, which reflects race days canceled due to weather. Its average daily total was up 2.3%, but on-track betting was down nearly 4%.

A new seating area in the Longshots bar at Aqueduct racetrack. Mark Abramson for The Wall Street Journal

To bring those numbers up, NYRA is trying a series of short-term changes as it works on the long-term plan. Much of the work is centering on making the Belmont Stakes Day, June 7, a splashier event with high-profile entertainment (to be announced), more food and beverage options at the clubhouse and a more lucrative race day to lure top-caliber horses.

"I'd like to see people think of Belmont Stakes Day as the kickoff to summer, the way they think of the U.S. Open as the end of summer," said Christopher Kay, NYRA's president.

How the public responds will make a difference.

"Once we're finished with the 2013-2014 season, we'll probably make some changes," said Mr. Kay. "We're trying to collect more data and evaluate it and make decisions."

Write to Pia Catton at pia.catton@wsj.com

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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.

 

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