OTB In NYC Expected To Stay Open (Updated)
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- June
- 13
Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said this morning that New York City Off-Track Betting is expected to stay open.
Updated: Gov. Paterson has just called a 3 p.m. press conference, presumably to announce the agreement. Also, a source said, that Sen. John Sabini, D-Queens, is expected to be head the oversight of the OTB takeover.
Sabini’s exit from the Senate would prevent him from facing a tough primary challenge against NYC Councilman Hiram Monserrate and give Democrats one less headache going into the November elections.
Bruno said on an Albany radio show that Gov. David Paterson and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg are expected to hold a news conference this afternoon to announce a handshake deal to have the state take over OTB.
Bruno said the Legislature would vote on Monday to solidify the deal. It’s unclear whether the New York Racing Association or the Racing and Wagering Board would run OTB.
“The governor is planning an annoucement this afternoon if they can,” Bruno said.
Bloomberg had announced that New York City OTB would be shut down Sunday after it reported a $13 million shortfall last year. The closure would mean 1,500 workers would be laid off.
This entry was posted
on Friday, June 13th, 2008 at 11:02 am by Joseph Spector.
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Jay Gallagher has covered Albany for Gannett News Service since 1984 and has been Albany Bureau chief since 1989. He`s a native of the Boston area and likes to point out that in this millennium, the score is Red Sox 1 championship, the Yankees 0. 
Cara Matthews has been a statehouse correspondent in the Albany Bureau since August 2005. Prior to that, she covered Putnam County government and politics at The Journal News for nearly five years. Before that, she worked at newspapers in Connecticut and covered the state Legislature for one of them. 
