Death of a patronage mill
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After four decades, the New York City Off-Track Betting Corp. appears to be officially closed.
For now, anyway.
If so, shed no tears: This lame-horse, cash-bleeding, dysfunctional quasi-public patronage mill finally may have been put out of its misery, once and for all.
The shutdown began after the state Senate on Tuesday fell three votes short of the 32 needed for an ill-advised bailout. OTB Chairman Larry Schwartz says the operation is now “out of money, out of cash and out of business.”
Let’s hope he means for good.
Yes, OTB’s closure could have been handled in a more orderly fashion.
And it’s a shame that some folks may be out of work.
But the move was long overdue, given the long-term drain on the public fisc.
The fact is, from the moment it was formed back in 1970, OTB served as a political dumping ground.
And, as everyone knows, it’s been the bookie that couldn’t make money — no matter how many times the Legislature rode to the rescue.
True, bureaucratic ineptitude wasn’t the only cause of OTB’s woes.
Horse racing has lost popularity. And onerous financial formulas for divvying OTB revenues hurt the city operation.
There’s also no denying that OTB’s demise will take a genuine toll on the financially troubled industry. The New York City OTB, after all, handled some 40 percent of the state’s annual $1 billion take.
And, again, New Yorkers sympathize with any OTB workers left without a job.
But bottom line: A gam bling operation, needs — at least — to be able to stand on its own. OTB couldn’t.
So is OTB really, truly, absolutely DOA?
“The future is bleak, if not finished,” Schwartz said yesterday.
In Albany, of course, anything can happen.
For New York’s sake, let’s hope OTB staysdead this time.
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