Off-Track Betting May Be in Its Final Stretch

The city's struggling off-track betting operation appears to be in its final stretch after Mayor Michael Bloomberg yesterday said the city will not bail it out and asked its president to submit a plan for shutting it down.

Mr. Bloomberg said he is cutting off the financially troubled New York City Off-Track Betting Corp., which operates more than 60 branches.

They place an average of 1.6 million wagers per day, totaling more than $1 billion in bets per year, according to the NYCOTB.

The organization was established in 1970 to generate public money and to keep private bookies from doing the same business. But it has long struggled with its finances — Mayor Giuliani famously quipped that OTB is the only bookie around that loses money. The operation makes a profit, but is mandated by law to hand over so much of its money to the state that it is no longer worth supporting, Mr. Bloomberg said.