Help city OTB? Locals want a piece of the action
Jersey Town, ridden by Cornelio Velasquez, wins the Cigar Mile horse race on Nov. 27, 2010, at Aqueduct in Queens. Credit: AP
No less than 30 callers reached Nassau Off-Track Betting on Friday to ask if its branches had closed, said agency president Joseph Cairo. The branches were open, but the calls were sparked by news about New York City's OTB, which has been threatening again to shut down.
"Attention all horse players: Our branches are OPEN and thriving," the agency posted by way of response on its website. "And account wagering is available via Internet or telephone."
The track here gets muddy. The city OTB corporation, with unique troubles, is separate from the state's other five regional OTBs. But all New York's OTBs and tracks make up a network of interlaced businesses. Within it comes continual tension over the way income is divided among stakeholders, including the counties.
State senators reconvene in Albany Tuesday, to consider a bill that would keep city parlors alive through a bankruptcy reorganization plan. But Nassau, Suffolk and upstate OTBs want a piece of that legislative action too. Like the city, they seek favorable changes in key distribution formulas for betting income. They've been conferring on a broader relief bill, now drafted, with Senate GOP leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre), who's due to return next month as majority leader.
"The catch phrase for what we're asking for is parity," said Cairo, also a key Nassau GOP figure. "If the city gets some relief, we should - all the regions together." An example of mutual dependence: A city OTB collapse could cost Nassau millions in surcharge revenue tied to Belmont's presence in the county.
Jeff Casale, Suffolk OTB president, cited his agency's significant cuts of late and said: "The real issue, for us, is that it's time to address the statutory payment schemes, which are bizarre at best." He spoke in detail of OTB's "providing the tracks with subsidies when they're installing video lottery terminals worth tens of millions of dollars."
"None of us want to see New York City fail," he said. "Sen. Skelos and certain other members of the Senate are trying to solve the problem globally."
The New York Racing Association, which runs the tracks, is expected to resist. And anything beyond a New York City bailout would need new Assembly approval.
Some in Albany, meanwhile, expect horse-trading of another kind this week - possibly linking the OTB issue to sales-tax authorizations.
