NY audit finds NYRA repeatedly violated law

[the written word]

From the New York Office of the State Comptroller:



http://www.osc.state.ny.us/press/releases/june05/061505.htm

[andicap]

This is my favorite part of the release, written about Barry "I swear I'm going to clean up this mess" Schwartz:

For example, during the audit period NYRA paid $797,913 in a no-bid contract to a web services company owned by the daughter and son-in-law of NYRA’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at that time

Ah, does anyone wonder how the rich get richer and the poor get -- the shaft? Schwartz ran Calvin Klein so his family is pretty well set for a few generations. But a little extra help never hurts!!

Gee, wonder why I haven't heard the NYRA apologists scream about "unwarrented, scurillous politically motivated attacks." NYRA has never done anything wrong -- oh, I'm sorry it was a trumped up charge based on the actions of a couple of tellers.

You know the old "a few bad apples" argument you used to hear in the 1970s when the Knapp Commission investigated police corruption in NYC. Turned out much of the barrell was rotten.

I will agree with the NYRA saps on one thing: Clem Imperato certainly did take the fall for the illegal and unethical actions of a raft of NYRA officers and executives. He truly did serve as a scapegoat.

Having said all that, the new administration with Charles Hayward does have a good rep -- he's an old buddy of Steve Crist -- so I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt to see if they can clean up this cesspool of corruption.

I am also happy to see that Bill Nader has escaped the fallout from all of this seaminess and remains in his post at NYRA. One of the good guys at the track. Always accountable, always available to the press.

[Suff]

There is patronage and some black eyes in there. But overall there isn't that much meat on the bone.

As far as putting everything out to bid? Operating cost's at facilties like these are similiar to Fire Departments. It all depends on how many fires they have. The lowest price isn't alway the best price.

They are using a $5400.00 dollar set of Cuff Links to show abuse. A $13,000 Trophy! So what? They don't even imply they overspent, they dictate that NYRA should force the owners to pay half? Whole lotta nothing. $5400.00 for long time trustee who may have contributed a lot to the orginization is peanuts. Moderate reward. Acceptable. NYRA's a world class circuit... I hope thier trophys cost $13,000 grand. More Money... These are STANLEY CUP'S!

Money going to money is a natural gravitational pull. Tough to get around that reality.

[kenwoodallpromos]

Why does the NYRA transport horses?

[BillW]

There is patronage and some black eyes in there. But overall there isn't that much meat on the bone.

As far as putting everything out to bid? Operating cost's at facilties like these are similiar to Fire Departments. It all depends on how many fires they have. The lowest price isn't alway the best price.



Same thing I noticed on quick glance. Sounds like quite a bit of bureaucracy run amock. Putting out bids for $100k jobs - exactly how much do you spend to guarantee the best price? $20k? $30k? $50K? Lets open up a bid consultancy and jump on the gravytrain :).

[Suff]

Why does the NYRA transport horses?

Horse's get Loose (frequently)... end up God knows where... You get them in the nearest and best Van if your corner them, or they get themsleves hurt. Track Ponys run off. Shit comes up. Horse's need to be moved quickly. Who knows? Maybe you have to shuffle a Barn's horses around to make room, or do repair on a barn , and you help him move his animals?

[the little guy]

Why does the NYRA transport horses?Because they don't have enough stall space in Saratoga, so the races there often include horses that are stabled downstate, and those horses are shipped up on race day.

[Figman]

To continue on what TLG said, horses are shipped from April through mid-July and from after Labor Day to November from the Oklahoma Training Center in Saratoga to race at NYRA. THe Oklahoma Training Center that is owned by NYRA is so popular that Todd Pletcher and Nick Zito along with others like Rick Violette have large divisions at Saratoga during the off season. They pay a per stall per day fee for use of the training center with that cost given certain credits based on starts at Belmont Park and Aqueduct. During the years in question by the State Comptroller, NYRA provided a shuttle every raceday for the 180 mile trip.

[Observer]

Why does the NYRA transport horses?

The horses are transported from the track they are stabled at, to the track at which they will be racing .. this is not exclusive to during the Saratoga meet .. it happens year-round.

Right now, horses stabled with a trainer based at Aqueduct will be vanned over to Belmont.

In the winter, Belmont-stabled horses are vanned to race at Aqueduct.

[Tom]

Isn't it the owner's responsibility to transport his own horses? why is NYRA picking up the tab?:confused:

[the written word]

State Auditor Calls NYRA 'Worst Agency of All'

Key quotes to look for in Bloodhorse article:
http://channels.bloodhorse.com/images/content/barry_schwartz_bl.jpgFormer NYRA chairman and CEO Barry Schwartz is named in report.
Barbara D. Livingston

New York's top fiscal watchdog says most members of the current NYRA board should resign - Barry Schwartz chief among them.



"NYRA takes the cake," Hevesi said. "This is the worst agency of all."



"New York Racing Association is the poster child for mismanagement and corruption."

Hevesi said NYRA has "mismanaged" and "squandered" money and violated their own rules as well as state laws when it comes to


Hevesi also lashed out at a "culture" at NYRA that showed an "unwillingness to care" about following rules or laws and that termed past revelations of misconduct as "PR problems" instead of devising ways to fix them.

[Macdiarmadillo]

The vanning is in exchange for for being willing to stable at Oklahoma. Trainers would all rather be at whatever track is running at the time, but there's no room for everybody. So outfits like Pletcher's can get a certain number of stalls at the active track and shuttle horses back and forth. Sounds like a great deal for the big stables, and it is, but if this wasn't done, the big stables would get all the stalls on track.

I believe California provides vanning for the same reason.

The patronage deal is pretty sad and lame, but I can't argue against the trophy expense either. Maybe they want NYRA to give out recycled bowling trophies.

[PaceAdvantage]

Hey Andicap and Mr. "Written Word", how about we dig a little deeper, and explore a couple of the nuggets from this interesting press release that you guys have chosen to ignore (note how quiet things have been of late on the NYRA front....how interesting this stuff is released now):

The Hevesi audit covered a two-year period that ended last December. Though the federal monitor, Getnick & Getnick, was in place during part of that period, most of the abuses occurred before the firm took full control of NYRA's oversight, Hevesi said.

So basically, what was cited in this Audit is old news. Surprise, surprise.

Hevesi called the Web-cast deal "the worst" example of questionable spending auditors uncovered. "Draw your own conclusions as to whether that was the only firm that could provide Web services to NYRA," Hevesi said.


A livid Schwartz insisted the contract held by his son-in-law was bid out by NYRA, and that it was awarded before he became chairman. He said the contract was for three years. "The original contract was bid, and he got it," Schwartz said.

"How does somebody this dumb get a job in this state?" Schwartz said of Hevesi. He added: "I won't say he's dead wrong. He's lying."

Schwartz said he submitted a disclosure statement to NYRA--a NYRA policy--noting his son-in-law held the Internet contract with NYRA. "I have never dealt with my son-in-law on a single NYRA issue," Schwartz said.

That's it? That's the worst? That's the worst example Hevesi could find? Interesting to say the least. All hat, no cattle, again?

[PaceAdvantage]

Here's a question from a guy who likes to defend NYRA. Why is Alan Hevesi wasting taxpayer money telling us what NYRA DID in the PAST before the federal monitor was put into place as part of the indictment?

How about letting us know how NYRA has done since then....how's the progress been? What point is there in telling us of all the "abuses" that supposedly have taken place before the federal monitor was installed? That's old news....we know already that NYRA isn't the most efficient and best run company in America (or NY state).

Unless the point is to generate some desperately needed "new" bad press for NYRA, and sending the INS into the backstretch would look too obvious....

As Suff said, not much meat on the bone....not that there ever was, even before that dreaded "indictment."

The whole thing is so laughable at this point, that I'm starting to lose interest in whatever the outcome might be....

HEY ALAN, how about an AUDIT of the regional OTBs for your next two or three year audit project. From knowing what I know about them, I'd love to see Hevesi, with a STRAIGHT FACE, continue to call NYRA "the worst agency of all" after an audit of NY's OTBs.

Laughable....

[DerbyTrail]

Regarding the "Shuttle" that goes to and from Saratoga to AQU/BEL, Hevasi is so full of shit his eyes are brown..

Horseman/Owners pay a fee to ride the shuttle, and his contention that "many of the trustees' horses use the van" is pathetic. A ton of horseman that are small guys use the van too.. I know many owner/trainer types with one or two horses that use it at this time of year and in the fall to get to races at Belmont that Racing Sec. Mike Lakow is trying to fill.

Hevasi's comment shows an utter lack of understanding of how racing is conducted. If horses are being shipped in to fill races, THEN THE FULL FIELDS MORE THAN OFFSET THE PALTRY $300,000 EXPENSE IN WAGERING DOLLARS.

I also just LOVE how this gets played up in the papers, but NYRA settling with the tellers and NYRA moving forward with the VLT's at AQU and NYRA generating revenue with Argent Mortgage and NYRA settling their payment dispute with the horsemen gets conveniently ignored.

And if Hevasi thinks that NYRA is the "worst" of the state agencies, he must live and work in another state. Maybe he didn't notice all but one DMV office in Buffalo being closed recently over a corruption/malfeasence issue. There have been lines 300 people long at the one remaining DMV. Of course that assumes he even knows Buffalo is in New York.

[PaceAdvantage]

I was going to mention the DMV, but I thought that was too obvious...

Maybe Barry Schwartz has a point after all.....

[kenwoodallpromos]

Thank you all for the answer. Now it seems to me there would be situations where waiting to bid out transporting contracts may not be efficient and reliable.

[DerbyTrail]

Isn't it the owner's responsibility to transport his own horses? why is NYRA picking up the tab?:confused:

Tom..

As I cited, NYRA isn't "picking up the tab" for the shuttle. Riders (horsemen/owners) PAY A FEE to ride the shuttle, so NYRA is only subsidizing the cost. And they OWN the vans, so a large part of that expense could very well be upkeep and maintainence on the vehicles.

[DerbyTrail]

State Auditor Calls NYRA 'Worst Agency of All'

Key quotes to look for in Bloodhorse article:

New York's top fiscal watchdog says most members of the current NYRA board should resign - Barry Schwartz chief among them.

"NYRA takes the cake," Hevesi said. "This is the worst agency of all."

"New York Racing Association is the poster child for mismanagement and corruption."

Hevesi said NYRA has "mismanaged" and "squandered" money and violated their own rules as well as state laws when it comes to

Hevesi also lashed out at a "culture" at NYRA that showed an "unwillingness to care" about following rules or laws and that termed past revelations of misconduct as "PR problems" instead of devising ways to fix them.


What's your agenda exactly?

[alysheba88]

Barry Schwart' comments about Hevesi in that articile say it all.

[Storm Cadet]

I am a horse owner who ships between BEL-SAR-AQU...and I've NEVER paid a van fee to ship any of my horses between the tracks. I have checked my quarterly statements from each of my two management partnerships where they charge you even for the postage on the mailing of the winner circle photos, and there are NO VAN fees listed among the 100 or so charges! I have always believd that it is a free service given to us because NYRA cannot house all the horses at one location for each meet.

[Storm Cadet]

ON the NYRA site...go to NYRA publications....then to horsemens guide...page 22..it clearly states the vans are free!!!!

[Kreed]

NYRA will NOT EVER get to continue running NY racing. This Hevesi bs is
corp-politico speak. It paves the way for killing off NYRA. On the NY board
of trustees is 2 Goldman-Sachs' ex-biggies. Any & all charges against NYRA
really are besides the point --- but they did make mistakes, most hum hums, some major blunders. Hevesi, Pataki, Bloomberg etc etc will all agree that
a NEW CHARTER for NY racing takes place & NYRA's claim to OWN the land
of the 3 tracks is as likely as the Injuns claim to SouthHampton. NO F'N WAY.
How it all shakes out remains but NYRA seems superfluous to the outcome.

[andicap]

See, Derek can make some sense when he really tries....

I agree with him that no matter what NYRA is toast. And also with PA that NYC OTB (and some of the regionals too) are probably worse than NYRA and should be investigated. But the OTB appointees are products of political patronage and thus sacred ground.

I'm not sure what's happening politically in Albany at this point as to why Dems and Reps. are ganging up on NYRA (although I agree with the report I also agree that the state has surely targeted NYRA). In New York State politics things are never what they appear on the surface although I've generally found Hevasi to be honest.
And I really dont think NYRA is going to much of an issue in the 2006 governor's or attorney general races so I can't believe its pure politics. Really, zero number of people care about this thing at all. It will affect very few votes.

NYRA has always been protected by the Republicans in the state, notably Sen. Majority Leader Bruno so maybe its a case of the Dems playing politics with a group that has been historically close to the Republicans and the GOP cutting NYRA loose as a liability.

[cj]

You guys don't think slots have something to do with this? I don't know, but I'd be really surprised if that isn't a major reason politicians are interested.

[saratoga guy]

And I really dont think NYRA is going to much of an issue in the 2006 governor's or attorney general races so I can't believe its pure politics. Really, zero number of people care about this thing at all. It will affect very few votes.

Follow the money.

Is it really a coincidence that the "stuff" originally started to hit the fan on the eve of Aqueduct getting its slots action up and running?

Why was Donald Trump all of a sudden taking potshots at NYRA at that time? He certainly didn't show any interest in horse racing prior to that.

Voters might not pull the lever on election day based on their perception of NYRA -- but voters do pull the lever based on their perception of the candidate... A perception which is shaped by PR and advertising. Which costs money. And it's probably a little easier to fill those coffers when you have some deep pockets jockeying to take away NYRA's franchise -- and the slots action that will go with it.

[andicap]

Yes, well slots of course. Well, Magna wants the tracks for the slots pretty badly and Stronach could throw some of his money around to the right candidate/party of course. So could Churchill Downs, etc.

The unfortunate matter is I think Charles Hayward is a man of integrity and will do a good job.

[PaceAdvantage]

Magna might be as irrelevent in this issue as NYRA is (according to "Kreed") if their financial situation doesn't brighten sooner rather than later....how's that stock price doing?

In any event, let's not forget that Joseph Bruno's son is a PAID LOBBYIST for Magna in NY State....

A clear conflict of interest in this matter, and I believe, a source (perhaps not THE major source, but a source nonetheless) of all of NYRA's sudden legal woes over the last couple of years.

They want to talk about Schwartz's son-in-law and the contract he got? Why not talk about Jospeh Bruno's son and the work he's done lobbying for MAGNA's interests in NY State.

[andicap]

Hey, PA, I'm not a big fan of Magna either. Given a choice I'd much rather stay with the Devil you know. For all my criticism of NYRA I'm not necessarily against it receiving a new franchise. Who's to say the next owner will do better?
Magna's shown its stripes in Md. (although I'm sure it will spend money in NY as a "showcase" much like in Florida, but as you say the company is struggling. Who's to say they'll have to money to spend.)

Churchill Dows itself is a nice track from what I've seen, but it's done a terrible job with Hollywood Park and those people have always seemed a bit arrogant to me. Anyone have any comment on what it's done with Fair Grouds and Arlington?

Maybe there are others out there who would do a better job but you've got to prove it to me...

[foregoforever]

As long as New York politicians continue to stick their noses into the sport, and maintain the absurd OTB system as it's currently organized, the types of problems cited in the report will either continue, or will be perceived to continue by politicians with their own agendas.

It's pretty remarkable that with what has to be the lousiest political organization of any state, the New York product, facilities, and general customer experience are as good as they are. There have to be some pretty good people somewhere in NYRA to pull that off.

If New York were to decide to privatize, get their political noses out of it, get rid of the current OTB setup, and just sit back and take their cut like most states, things could be relatively decent with Magna or some other operator. The trouble is that's not likely to happen. They'll want to bring someone else in and keep all the same political entanglements, which will likely give us the worst of both worlds.

[the little guy]

Steve Crist's column in the Sunday DRF is terrific. It's available on-line now, but as it's a subscription article, I can't reprint it here. Sorry. He basically points out how absurd Hevesi's comments are, as they are not only incorrect and out of context, but they are reiterations of previous comments.

[BillW]

Hey, PA, I'm not a big fan of Magna either. Given a choice I'd much rather stay with the Devil you know. For all my criticism of NYRA I'm not necessarily against it receiving a new franchise. Who's to say the next owner will do better?



The NYRA racing product is arguably one of the best in the country. It is amazing an outfit as "incompetent" as the NYRA can possibly accomplish this when all the competent management outfits are doing so poorly in other venues. Your last sentence says it all Andy - What do the detractors expect when the NYRA is thrown out? I'd like to hear constructive criticism as to what improvement could be expected for the race fan. Politics can be a destructive force in a competent organization that can bring it to its knees. Anyone who has worked in a company afflicted will know what I mean. This sounds like the NYRA's problem, yet, impressively they still continue to offer top quality racing.

Bill

[foregoforever]

It is a good column, and he certainly points out a lot of the excesses in the news conference. But he didn't say anything about the alleged no-bid web services contract for Schwartz's daughter and son-in-law, which I thought was the most damaging allegation. If there's an explanation for this, I'd like to hear it.

[westny]

It is a good column, and he certainly points out a lot of the excesses in the news conference. But he didn't say anything about the alleged no-bid web services contract for Schwartz's daughter and son-in-law, which I thought was the most damaging allegation. If there's an explanation for this, I'd like to hear it.

I copied this post from Michael Ferdman, Barry Schwartz's son-in-law.
He posted this on what is now the forum for what was the NYRA message board before it was shutdown. Ferdman was familiar with the NYRA forum posters and occassionally answered complaints about technical issues on the NYRA board.


Message
mbferdman
Maiden Claimer


Joined: 24 Feb 2005
Posts: 24

Posted: June 16, 2005, 8:38 am Post subject: From the dreaded Son-in-Law

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After some deliberation I have decided to answer some of these posts

Here r some facts to chew on

My firm..Fborn was awarded thru a bidding process the nyra site in 1998..years before Barry became Chairman...

We maintain the site daily, deal with all technical issues, built the Showdown and Fantasy game. Wireless Apps, On and on..We bill NYRA at a rate of 100 dollars an hour

100 dollars an hour is half our normal rate

Feel free to check out our site and look at our clients over the last 8 years

Now can I say that Barry being there hurt me? Of course not but the audit was unfair because it didn't have the facts

More facts

NYRA makes up about 4 percent of our business..

What is even more unreal is the process that is going to finally bid this out

The company that is writting the proposal is getting to bid on the proposal...

It is what it is...Hevesi got his big story in the Post

Tomm it will be yesterday's news..Just wish the truth could be thrown in there

And most importantly Barry did some amazing things for you the horseplayer...it is a shame that his four years of tireless work can be called into question because of a Spitzer wannabe.


//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The monies in question are 3.5 million for the vans, trophys, gate spin gifts, and other bs. How much was NYRA's gross earnings last year? How much went to NY State?.
How come the MONITOR that has been on NYRA's site "overlooking " NYRA costs NYRA $10,000 a week? How come NYS has hasn't had a budget on time in 20 years?
How come Pataki's wife has a personal assistant and housekeeper listed as government staff at annual salaries of 70k?
How disingenious can Hevesi be when NY state's Bruno son is paid by Magna and Kornstein 1M? How much of that 1M did Bruno get to get the Magna lobbying job for his SON? Who bid on the lobbying job?

[Tom]

Tom..

As I cited, NYRA isn't "picking up the tab" for the shuttle. Riders (horsemen/owners) PAY A FEE to ride the shuttle, so NYRA is only subsidizing the cost. And they OWN the vans, so a large part of that expense could very well be upkeep and maintainence on the vehicles.

Thanks, sounded funny when I read it.

[swetyejohn]

I copied this post from Michael Ferdman, Barry Schwartz's son-in-law.
He posted this on what is now the forum for what was the NYRA message board before it was shutdown.

"More facts

NYRA makes up about 4 percent of our business..


So according to my calculations his web services company is a 20 million dollar business. Not bad.

[westny]

So according to my calculations his web services company is a 20 million dollar business. Not bad.

Where did that poster say 4% of his company's REVENUE? He didn't.

He said 4% of his company's business, THAT could be customers.
Maybe you should learn to read before you try go to "calculate".

[swetyejohn]

Where did that poster say 4% of his company's REVENUE? He didn't.

He said 4% of his company's business, THAT could be customers.
Maybe you should learn to read before you try go to "calculate".

Thank you for taking time to reply.

This was posted on page one of this thread by Andicap: "For example, during the audit period NYRA paid $797,913 in a no-bid contract to a web services company owned by the daughter and son-in-law of NYRA’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at that time."

I used 798K as 4% of the web services business.

But you're right, it's also conceivable that they have 25 customers of which NYRA is one of them. That is another interpretation of the 4%.

It just seems more likely to me that he was talking about the size of the contract in dollars than the number of customers, since the dollar amount of the contract seemed to be what was being disputed more than NYRA being one of his customers.

But I could be wrong.

Perhaps you can clarify this. Thanks.

PS

I'm not sure that quote in bold above is correct. I also read where they were awarded the contract before Schwartz became CEO. Of course, before he was CEO he was probably still involved with NY racing, so he could have had some influence. But that is speculation.

[Figman]

Here is another take on the NYRA scene by Michael Veitch who is related to Hall of Fame trainer Syl Veitch as well as the former Calumet Farm and ALYDAR trainer, John Veitch.
http://tinyurl.com/7uy5p

[Suff]

Where did that poster say 4% of his company's REVENUE? He didn't.
He said 4% of his company's business, THAT could be customers.
Maybe you should learn to read before you try go to "calculate".


It could be read either way.. ...Calm down , he's not the cops.

And it is more likely he was talking Revenue. If he was talking about his customer total in that manner, then it's even more glaring he did'nt deserve the contract. Because that is not a generally acceptable manner in which firms break down thier balance sheet, or income statement.

If I have 10 customers, and one of them equals 50% of my business, or even 25% of my business in Revenue, I do not make public statements that they are 10% of my business.

[DerbyTrail]

Anxious to hear what our obvious plant "written" has to say to Steve Crist who thoroughly called out Hevesi and his laughable 'audit'...


Hevesi takes the cake
By STEVEN CRIST
NEW YORK - Since being elected New York's state comptroller in 2002, Alan Hevesi has issued more than 300 audits of state agencies, many of them turning up the same kind of violations of accounting procedures for which he lambasted the New York Racing Association in an audit released last Wednesday. In NYRA's case, the lack of corporate controls that led to laxity in bidding and procurement procedures from 2002 to 2004 have been exhaustively examined and largely remedied under a new management team and the relentless on-site presence of a court-appointed monitor.

If Hevesi's genuine ambition was to correct past poor business practices, he would have filed his latest NYRA audit for the historical record and complimented the company and the monitor for its corrective actions. Instead, he called in the television cameras for a press conference at which he hurled inflammatory charges at NYRA that went beyond the scope of his audit and twisted his findings into charges and implications with little relation to the truth.

"NYRA takes the cake," was one of his sound bites. "This is the worst agency of all. NYRA is the poster child for mismanagement and corruption."

Current NYRA management - obliged to answer each new politically motivated assault by saying, essentially, "Thank you, sir, may I please have another?" - officially responded by thanking Hevesi for raising these issues and pointing out that they have been largely remedied. Only Barry Schwartz, the former NYRA chairman, responded viscerally, asking about Hevesi, "How does someone this dumb get a job in this state? He's lying."

Hevesi's true agenda, to raise his profile as a crimebuster with higher political potential than mere accountancy, emerges in the absurdity of some of his charges. Nothing plays as well in the tabloids as characterizing NYRA's unpaid trustees as a bunch of martini-swilling country-clubbers lining their own pockets, so Hevesi made three references at his press conference to NYRA's paying part of the costs of vanning "trustees' horses" between NYRA's three tracks. Never mind that tracks and owners share vanning costs almost everywhere, or that fewer than 1 percent of the horses vanned happen to be owned by NYRA trustees.

Hevesi also fulminated about a "$1.6 million public relations contract," implying the amount was excessive and improper. In fact, the fee to the uniquely qualified firm that has done a widely praised job of promoting Saratoga, was under $250,000 and the rest was actual advertising payments to media outlets.

Hevesi isn't done. He has two more NYRA audits scheduled for the coming months. The next blockbuster, likely to be released at the height of Saratoga, will focus on NYRA's franchise-fee payments, which Hevesi will surely contend would have been higher if NYRA didn't fritter away funds by vanning horses from Saratoga to Belmont to help fill races.

As disturbing as Hevesi's disingenuous charges is his underlying assumption that the sole purpose of racing is to generate the highest possible fees for other state agencies, an insidious and short-sighted approach in which he sadly has plenty of company. Last month, at a far less publicized event than Hevesi's press conference, the state's Senate and Assembly racing committees held the first round of hearings on the future of racing in New York. This was the first step in the process leading to what the state will do about the NYRA franchise, set to expire in 2007.

Various constituents made presentations at the hearings. NYRA and its shadow public-interest group, the Friends of New York Racing, spoke about the need to re-examine the entire regulatory and legislative atmosphere in New York and to consider new models of private or joint private-public ownership. It was an interesting and thoughtful way to begin a long debate.

When it came time for New York City Offtrack Betting to weigh in on the future of the sport, its president, Ray Casey, articulated a single vision: takeout and breakage rates on bettors should be increased so that more revenue would flow to his agency. "The only way we can adjust our pricing to meet inflation-increased operating costs is to raise our takeout percentage," Casey said. "It's time for takeout to be taken out of the exclusive control of the tracks. It's time the OTB's had a say in the decision-making." Casey has said repeatedly that he thinks his customers do not care about takeout rates and, contrary to all logic and research, that lower takeout does not increase handle. Fortunately, there is a mechanism that would allow him to test his unusual hypotheses: net-pool pricing, which allows different bet-takers to charge different takeout rates in the same pool. Casey could double the takeout to a blended 40 percent or so for NYC OTB customers only. They might get $4.40 instead of $6 when a 2-1 shot wins, but if he's right and loses no business, money that would have gone back to the betting public will instead flow directly to OTB - a "Public Benefit Corporation" - and his profits will soar.

[the written word]

Steve Crist is a former employee of NYRA, serving three years as vice president of marketing and publicity. Crist also blasted attorney General Elliot Spitzer's findings on NYRA as baseless and politcally motivated which later resulted in a federal indictment, a $3 million fine, and scores of federal overseers. Yeah, he's got loads of credibility.

Is this all the people they can find to defend NYRA: corrupt former execs, soon to be fired board members, and former NYRA publicity department stooges?

[swetyejohn]

I do agree with Crist on the NYOTB thing. Let NYOTB raise the takeout to their customers. If they make more money then more power to them. If they make less money, they were wrong to raise rates.

[kenwoodallpromos]

Right or wrong, I like the idea that Crist said it and that he standing up for racing. OTB wants to contol takeout? are they nuts?
Stooge? I hope 2 more pop up and the 3 stooges will make the DRF fun to read! :p
I do not like handicapping Saratoga anyway; it is hard for me to win when they and Del Mar run at the same time.

[the little guy]

Steve Crist is a former employee of NYRA, serving three years as vice president of marketing and publicity. Crist also blasted attorney General Elliot Spitzer's findings on NYRA as baseless and politcally motivated which later resulted in a federal indictment, a $3 million fine, and scores of federal overseers. Yeah, he's got loads of credibility.

Is this all the people they can find to defend NYRA: corrupt former execs, soon to be fired board members, and former NYRA publicity department stooges?I'm sorry...are you suggesting that Steve is defending NYRA because he worked there? And, if you are, you would also be suggesting that he is a reprehensible journalist. And, you also seem to be saying that NYRA got Steve to write that article.

Forgive me if I somehow misinterpreted your statements. But, I would really like some clarification before I respond to you further.

[PaceAdvantage]

If anyone bothered to read the Hevesi audit, they'd see that Hevesi, in his very own report states that NYRA is NOT a state agency. I find it laughable that in public, he calls NYRA the "worst agency of all."

Hevesi is digging himself a big hole here, at least with me....it's clear that honesty and fairness are NOT at the top of his agenda....


Item Four: Hevesi and other state leaders have lately taken to describing NYRA as a public, or state agency.

This tactic is designed to make you think Saratoga Race Course, like a state park, actually belongs to the public.

In case state leaders have forgotten, NYRA is still a private entity.

[swetyejohn]

If anyone bothered to read the Hevesi audit, they'd see that Hevesi, in his very own report states that NYRA is NOT a state agency. I find it laughable that in public, he calls NYRA the "worst agency of all."

Hevesi is digging himself a big hole here, at least with me....it's clear that honesty and fairness are NOT at the top of his agenda....



Quote:
Item Four: Hevesi and other state leaders have lately taken to describing NYRA as a public, or state agency.

This tactic is designed to make you think Saratoga Race Course, like a state park, actually belongs to the public.

In case state leaders have forgotten, NYRA is still a private entity.

This reminds me of other politicians calling the tax on alcohol, gambling and tobacco "Sin Tax" or calling the estate tax the "Death Tax". Politicians like to say things in a way that make things seem different from what they really are in order to further their agenda.

No wonder non-politicians like to describe politicians with words like slippery, slimey, etc. Because that is how they appear to us.

[the little guy]

Steve Crist is a former employee of NYRA, serving three years as vice president of marketing and publicity. Crist also blasted attorney General Elliot Spitzer's findings on NYRA as baseless and politcally motivated which later resulted in a federal indictment, a $3 million fine, and scores of federal overseers. Yeah, he's got loads of credibility.

Is this all the people they can find to defend NYRA: corrupt former execs, soon to be fired board members, and former NYRA publicity department stooges?Apparantly you were too busy shilling for Alan Hevesi to get around to clearing up my confusion, so I am going to take your words at face value.

How dare you hide behind your computer and make your half assed accusations. What do you know about Steve Crist? You don't just question his integrity, you flat out accuse him of being a NYRA stooge. I guess you conveniently ignored any articles where he criticized NYRA, or perhaps you figured they were just a smokescreen.

But, since you are obviously adopting the State's case here ( in which case perhaps you should bone up on some facts, not that they matter to anyone on your side, such as the board members can't be fired ) I guess anyone that sees the hypocracies of their " case " is obviously working for NYRA. It doesn't occur to a coward like yourself that someone could even-handedly analyze the situation and see the State's political posturing for exactly what it is.

You go on to suggest that Steve is shilling for NYRA because he worked for them for three years. So, apparantly you're an expert on his tenure at NYRA, which means we must be well acquainted, as I spent countless hours with Steve during his time there. Otherwise, maybe you should share with us how you are so close to his relationship with NYRA that you would accuse him of being their pawn. I'm curious, because I would hate to find out that you're yet another fraud hiding behind a computer making baseless accusations, especially towards Steve Crist, one of the few people out there fighting the good fight for the horseplayer.

Keep making the mistake that nobody that really knows anything visits this site, because not only will you remain sadly mistaken, but you will provide myself, and countless others, with endless fodder.

[westny]

This poster, "the written word" is a horseracing/forum troll.

It has been/and is posting any and all negative information on horseracing at several internet forums for YEARS.

Posters at other forums know now to ignore it after years of posts, unsubstantiated,inflammatory and ,in nut shell anything negative it can find about racing.

Factual responses are ignored. It's ONLY purpose is to post and fabricate bs opinions like the Crist one.

[PaceAdvantage]

I get the feeling guys like me who run a racing website are going to need to band together and form a blacklist book -- sort of like Vegas does with card counters.....LOL

You're the second one to tell me about The Written Word's tattered reputation. That's enough confirmation for me....