agree that New Yorkers have the right to pray anywhere they want on Roman Catholic Easter Sunday
Including the holy church of Nassau oTB
Pope Francis speaks to Ukraine President Zelensky for 2nd time, offers Vatican peace negotiation & the proceeds of Nassau oTB operations for Ukraine on Sunday April 17, 2022
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.
ROME — Pope Francis on March 22 spoke for a second time by phone with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said he would welcome a Vatican mediation to bring about an end to the Russian invasion against the country.
The call, which was first made public on social media by Ukraine’s Vatican ambassador, and then by Zelensky’s own Twitter account, was later confirmed by the Holy See press office. The Vatican did not provide a read out of the conversation.
According to Zelensky’s account, during his call with Francis, the president said he discussed the “difficult humanitarian situation and the blocking of rescue corridors by Russian troops.”
He went on to note that Ukraine would welcome a mediation from the Holy See to help end the conflict, something the Vatican has offered on numerous occasions, though Russia has yet to express interest in such an option.
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Zelensky also addressed the Italian parliament on March 22, where he also recalled his conversation with the pope.
Francis first spoke by phone with Zelensky on Feb. 26, less than 48 hours after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began. During that call, the pope reportedly expressed his sorrow and solidarity with the country.
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