The Rich Get Rich-er

as if illegal gambling was not a big enough problem for the few law abiding citizens left in the city of New York , comes this shocker...
NYC Off-Track Betting Heads for Finish: Panel Approves Shutdown


NEW YORK (AP) -- The nation's largest legal off-track betting operation is apparently doomed to close this summer.

The board of directors for the financially troubled New York City Off-Track Betting Corp. voted Tuesday to shut down the struggling enterprise. The plan is to lay off employees and end betting in mid-June.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who appoints the board members, has been hinting for months that the betting operation was in trouble.

Bloomberg has said it could have been saved by changing the amount of money the city's OTB must give up to the state.

No action has been taken in Albany. But the June shutdown plan still could give the Legislature time to act on Bloomberg's demands.

The organization operates more than 60 branches throughout the city where gamblers gather to bet on the day's races. OTB says they place an average of 1.6 million wagers per day, totaling more than $1 billion in bets per year.

The operation was established in 1970 to generate public money and to thwart private bookies.
Off-track betting technically makes a profit, but is mandated by law to hand over so much of its money to the state that it runs a deficit; Bloomberg and the board believes it is no longer worth supporting.

``If we did nothing, by the end of June OTB would be running a cash negative operation for the first time in its history,'' Bloomberg said in a statement before the vote. ``I believe that if OTB is not able to operate without taxpayer subsidies then it should not operate, period.''

``The city simply cannot take dollars away from schools and hospitals to pay for a gambling operation,'' added Bloomberg.

Between 1997 and 2001, the city received an average of $11 million from OTB. That number fell to just $1 million in 2002, and the city got no money in 2003 and 2005, according to a report by the city comptroller.

NYCOTB is supposed to send money to the city based on the amount it takes in from surcharges on winnings and income left over after it pays its other financial obligations.

But those obligations to the state and the racing industry are absorbing more and more money, leaving little or none for the city, and reaching a point where the city could have to step in and help cover some of those costs.