Off-Track Betting Approves Plan To Shut Itself Down
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The board of the New York City Off-Track Betting Corporation approved a plan yesterday to shut its doors permanently, ratcheting up pressure on Albany to come up with a new revenue sharing formula that could save the troubled gambling franchise.
OTB pays the state millions of dollars a year for the right to broadcast races and take bets on the state-controlled racetracks, but city analysts say it is set to begin losing millions this year.
Mayor Bloomberg appeared at yesterday’s meeting and defended the city’s decision not to subsidize what he has called a “bookie operation.” For the last several years, the city has lobbied Albany to come up with a way to keep OTB financially solvent, but an agreement last week with the New York Racing Association failed to address the issue.
“The city simply cannot take dollars away from schools and hospitals to pay for a gambling operation,” Mr. Bloomberg said yesterday in front of a board of mayoral appointees, which voted 5–0 in favor of shutting down more than 70 outlets across the five boroughs.
OTB is scheduled to lay off its approximately 1,500 employees and close all of its locations citywide in June, according to the plan approved yesterday, as board members say they can no longer make a profit and still pay their required dues to the state. Two locations, one in Queens and one in Staten Island, may close as early as this month.
“It’s a sad day for New York City,” Mr. Bloomberg said. “People are going to be deprived of the ability to wager, which they seem to want to do, employees are going to have their lives upset.”
The chairman of OTB, David Cornstein, warned yesterday of far-reaching consequence if the state Legislature fails to save the business.
“If you eliminate $1.1 billion in bets that come out of New York City Off-Track Betting, it will devastate the racing industry in this state,” he said.
At the meeting, Mr. Bloomberg was given a letter from Governor Spitzer’s top aide for economic development, Patrick Foye, who said the mayor had a financial interest in saving OTB.
