Council Member Confident on Off-Track Betting
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The city appears to be moving ahead with plans to shut its cash-strapped off-track betting corporation, but a City Council Member who has called for the operation to be saved said he doesn’t think the gambling association will be closed.
The chairman of the Finance Committee, David Weprin, said after a hearing on the New York City Off-Track Betting Corporation that he is confident the city’s stance will force the state to renegotiate the payments the association is required to make to racetracks and the state racing association, thus improving its financial future and potentially saving it from closure.
“I’d be very surprised if they shut it down,” he said.
Mayor Bloomberg has said the city will not subsidize the New York City Off-Track Betting Corporation, which is on track to run out of money in June, when it makes a required pension payment.
The administration has argued that it should not divert money from city services to cover the deficits of the off-track betting corporation.
Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff delivered a presentation on the gambling association’s financial history at City Hall yesterday, showing how payments to the racing industry rose in recent years, while payments to the city declined.
