Bets are on

Daily Point

Suffolk ups the stakes, Nassau takes a pass

As the usual flurry of last-minute legislation blew by state lawmakers this week, one bill was as intriguing for what it didn’t include as for what it did.

Suffolk County Off-Track Betting Corporation got 1,000 new video-lottery terminals to augment its current 1,000-machine gaming operation. That wasn’t necessarily a big surprise. But the fact that Nassau County didn’t get permission for another 1,000 of its own is noteworthy.

Licenses for three full casinos downstate are set to be issued soon, and the chances that Suffolk OTB and its slots parlor, Jake's 58, will get one are essentially nonexistent. Genting is expected to get full-casino clearance for its Aqueduct operation, Resorts World. MGM’s Empire City Casino in Yonkers is a highly likely landing spot for the second license. And a long line of deep-pocketed suitors is vying for the third, along with the Shinnecock tribe.

But another 1,000 VLTs in Islandia aren’t close enough to really upset the full casino recipients. 

“It’s a great move for the county economically, we have a robust and profitable business, and we’re ready to grow it,” Suffolk OTB President Tony Pancella told The Point Friday. 

Pancella said that the Islandia location can only hold some of the new machines but he's not ready to discuss whether they’ll expand on the current site or do something elsewhere to accommodate the rest. As for Nassau OTB, President Joseph Cairo said he didn’t request new licenses. 

“When we tried to site a VLT parlor in Nassau County we found it difficult, if not impossible, after looking at the old Fortunoff site, Belmont racetrack and other locations,” Cairo said. “So we ended up in a partnership with Genting to place our 1,000 licenses at Resorts World. The current relationship provides great benefit, and we hope it will continue to, and we may look into pursuing another 1,000 licenses in the future, but right now we don’t need or want to expand that way.”

In other words, Cairo’s partner, Genting, doesn’t want another 1,000 OTB machines at Resorts World when it could get more without sharing the profits.

— Lane Filler @lanefiller

Talking Point

Racing to a new finish line

Among the many bills that didn’t get done in Albany’s legislative session was the effort to approve $450 million in state-backed bonding for the redevelopment of Belmont Park.

A mix of factors converged to block the bonding, which was meant to fund a new grandstand and year-round racing at Belmont.

Supporters initially hoped to get the bonding approval into the budget, but the last-minute addition of public financing for a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills left lawmakers less likely to go after another sports-related budget issue. Some even equated the two, despite the fact that the Belmont proposal doesn’t involve direct state funds.

Legislation supporting the bonding was introduced in both the state Senate and Assembly, and efforts were made to turn even the most ardent of opponents, but they didn’t make it through. Significant pushback came from opponents of racing and gambling, along with animal welfare activists. Still others highlighted the New York Racing Association’s past financial difficulties.

Several organizations, including New York Communities for Change, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), and New Yorkers for Clean, Livable, and Safe Streets, or NYCLASS, worked under an umbrella group called the Campaign to End Horseracing Subsidies, which declared victory Friday.

“This is a major win for taxpayers — and a testament to the hard work and determination of our coalition members and legislative champions,” the campaign’s statement said.

The statement highlighted one of the obstacles NYRA faced: The effort to differentiate the bonding from an actual state expenditure. 

“This was always going to be challenging,” NYRA spokesman Patrick McKenna told The Point Friday. “There were high-level conversations among the relevant committees, including Ways and Means, a very real back and forth and a very real dialogue.

“Ultimately, it didn’t happen but the groundwork is certainly in place for 2023,” McKenna added.

Bonding supporter Assemb. Michaelle Solages, who represents Belmont Park and the surrounding area, said she has a plan to make the bonding happen.

Solages noted that the opposition came from “a lot of outside forces,” but the communities surrounding Belmont Park, and elected officials who represented them, supported the legislation. 

“It was unfortunate the voices in the community were not listened to,” Solages said. “I tried very hard to get it done … but I’m not defeated.” Solages plans to hold listening sessions and tours of Belmont for lawmakers who were previously on the fence or against the proposal, to show them how the work could improve the property and impact the region. 

NYRA board member and developer Michael Dubb told The Point he hoped to complete an economic impact study to show the financial benefits and job creation coming from Belmont’s redevelopment, and he planned to get the unions, the New York Islanders and Genting Group, which hopes to operate a casino at Aqueduct Racetrack, on board as well.

But Dubb noted that a lot could change between now and the next legislative session, particularly in the political landscape.

“If any of us has a crystal ball to see what the environment would look like and who will be in office, I’d love to see it,” Dubb said.

Dubb noted that he expected Gov. Kathy Hochul to attend the Belmont Stakes on June 11 and hoped to continue the conversation about the bonding with her, too.

“I feel like a guy who took a hit but has to go back in the ring. I know I’m the better fighter and I’ll prevail,” Dubb said. “This is about what’s truly best for Long Island. We need this.”

— Randi F. Marshall @RandiMarshall

Pencil Point

Bull's-eye

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Puzzle Point

In the news

Welcome to this week’s news quiz, based on recent events. As usual, provide the answer for each clue, one letter per blank. The first letter of each answer, taken in order, spells the name of the U.S. senator who said about the status of gun safety negotiations after the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas: “I’m sober-minded about our chances. I have had the football pulled out from under me enough times to be realistic.”

A link to the answers appears below.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _   State that became the first in the nation to ban anonymous sperm and egg donations.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _   A man with a rifle and a handgun killed four people and himself at this kind of facility in Tulsa, in the nation’s 233rd mass shooting this year.

_ _ _ _ _ _     _ _ _ _ _ _   A judge announced that John Hinckley will be freed of all restrictions 41 years after attempting to assassinate this politician.

_ _ _ _   Apple announced software changes that will make this device operate more like a laptop and less like a phone.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _   Queen Elizabeth II is celebrating her Platinum Jubilee, marking this many years on the throne.

_ _ _ _     _ _ _ _   A man disguised as an old woman in a wheelchair threw a piece of cake at this famed painting hanging in the Louvre.

_ _ _ _ _ _   Funerals for 21 school shooting victims began in this small Texas city.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _   A report detailing California’s role in perpetuating discrimination against African Americans laid the groundwork for paying these to descendants of enslaved people.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _   Long Island community in which about 1,000 high school students walked out of class Wednesday to call for an end to gun violence.

_ _ _ _ _ _     _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ‘ _   Once-iconic national chain that saw its last restaurant close, in the upstate village of Lake George.

_ _ _ _ _ _   Last name of the Biden cabinet member who acknowledged that it was a mistake to downplay the risk of inflation.

Click here for the answers to the clued words and to the identity of the mystery U.S. Senator.

— Michael Dobie @mwdobie