Then Where Will We Go When We Want To Brown Bag 40s?
The board of directors of the New York City Off-Track Betting Corporation is set to vote today to shut down the gambling franchise, which could result in about 1,500 layoffs and the closure of more than 70 outlets across the five boroughs as early as June.
Sources say the OTB board of directors is poised to adopt a closing plan proposed by the president of the Off-Track Betting Corporation, Raymond Casey. Accounts differ as to the financial condition of the corporation, which has been famously described as the only bookie in the world that loses money. Mayor Bloomberg, who controls the OTB board through appointees, is set to shut down the corporation because he says the city has no interest in subsidizing its losses.
If the closure goes ahead, it could mark the end of the often seedy storefronts that dot the streets of the five boroughs, and it could deepen the financial troubles of New York State’s horse racing industry, which depends in part on funds from New York’s government-operated betting parlors.
See also: Off-Track Betting Parlors.
Posted: February 19th, 2008 | Filed under: Well, What Did You Expect?