Court of Appeals of New York.

IN RE: SUFFOLK REGIONAL OFF-TRACK BETTING CORPORATION, Appellant-Respondent, v. NEW YORK STATE RACING AND WAGERING BOARD et al., Respondents-Appellants. (And Four Other Related Proceedings.).

    Decided: December 17, 2008

Andrew M. Cuomo, Attorney General, Albany (Victor Paladino, Barbara D. Underwood and Andrea Oser of counsel), for New York State Racing and Wagering Board, respondent-appellant. Bleakley Platt & Schmidt, LLP, White Plains (Frederick J. Martin, Susan E. Galvo and Robert D. Meade of counsel), for Yonkers Racing Corporation, respondent-appellant. Nolan & Heller, LLP, Albany (Richard L. Burstein of counsel), for Saratoga Harness Racing, Inc., respondent-appellant. Marvin Newberg, Monticello, for Monticello Raceway Management, Inc., respondent-appellant. Jaspan Schlesinger Hoffman, LLP, Garden City (Thomas J. Garry and Keith M. Corbett of counsel), for Nassau Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation, appellant-respondent. Michael A. Cardozo, Corporation Counsel, New York City (Susan Choi-Hausman, Pamela Seider Dolgow, Ira H. Block and June R. Buch of counsel), for New York City Off-Track Betting Corporation, appellant-respondent. Powers & Santola, LLP, Albany (Michael J. Hutter of counsel), Neil H. Tiger, Hauppauge, and Stern & Rindner, Goshen (Mark D. Stern of counsel), for Suffolk Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation and others, appellants-respondents.

 OPINION OF THE COURT

At the core of this litigation-with the Off-Track Betting Corporations (OTBs) on one side, and the State Racing and Wagering Board and state harness racing tracks on the other side-are questions of statutory interpretation.   We begin with a brief history of the relevant sections of the Racing, Pari