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Newsday from New York, New York • 18

Publication:
Newsdayi
Location:
New York, New York
Issue Date:
Page:
18
Extracted Article Text (OCR)

tis tiauat newsdaycom A18 rernrn he shares Bloomberg's frustration and called on Albany to and treat New York City has to be something done to stop this they just continue to take a bigger and bigger he said Paul Larabee a spokesman for Gov Eliot Spitzer said yesterday that the governor open to a discussion during which tiie fundamental structure of the OTBs and its formula are modified We believe it should lose money Bloomberg aides said the mayor had not decided for sure whether to shut down OTBl One of his concerns is the loss of 100 jobs There are also statewide implications particularly for the New York Racing Association which depends on NYCOTB for a chunk of its operating income In Albany this week the state GOP majority proposed an overhaul of racing in New York including placing NYCOTB under a state authority Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said he had informal discussions with the mayor and others about including tiie city OTB and eventually other offtrack betting opera- tions statewide under an authority That state aut would also run Aqueduct mont and Saratoga race tracks names to a repeater but admitted they lose $30to $100 a day on this hobby the regulars said they win about twice a week The betting financial troubles are notorious in New York where Rudy Giuliani faiTOTMly pwlainwH it rim only bookie around that loses money City Comptroller William Thompson Jr issued a report last year noting the operation had ended multiple fiscal years with cialluttupEwas bleak Between 1997 and 2001 the city received an average of $11 million from OTBl That number foil to just $1 million in 2002 and the city got no money in 2003 and 2005 the report said The city is supposed to get money from NYCOTB based on the amount it takes in from surcharges on winnings as well as income left over after NYCOTB has taken care of its other finan- cial obligations The problem say Bloomberg and others is that those obliga- tions mostly payments re- quired by state law are absorbing more and mote money leav- ing little or none for the city Over the years there have been attempts to change the law in Albany and reduce tiie amount of money going to the state but those efforts gone anywhere Thompson said yesterday that Bloomberg says all horse betting parlors may close because state's take of revenue leaves little for the city THE ASSOCIATED PRESS It's probably not a good time to make a wager on the future of off-track betting in New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said yesterday that the city may shut down the money-losing operation The New York City Off-Track Betting Corp operates more than 60 branches throughout the city where gamblers gather to bet on the races Bettors place an average of L6 million wagers per day totaling more than $1 billion in bets per year according to the NYCOTB The organization makes a profit but is mandated by law to hand over so much of its money to the state that tiie venture may no longer be worth it for the city Bloomberg said "The state uses it as a cash cow and the city has been subsidizing the state and we are not goinfg to continue to do that I can ust tell Bloomberg told reporters The threat ofa shutdown got a mixed reaction yesterday at an GETTY IMAGES FILE PHOTO aays Albany is taking and liars Mayor Michael Bloom bigger of NYCOTB away the idea is like a home to us I come here every other day Fin too old too lazy to go all the way to tiie -This branch like many others is a bare gray room smelling slightly of lemon cleanser lined with televisions a few seats and vending Most of the gamblers would not give their OTB branch in lower Manhattan where dozens of mostly older men stood watching television screens their hopes riding on horses with names like Diamond Isle Wishful Tomcat and Malibu Moonshine never said 83-year-old Georgie 'Jackson waving a newspaper as if to swat City halts work after accident THE ASSOCIATED PRESS City officials halted work on a midtown Manhtftan skyscraper a day after a construction accident rained glass and debris onto the street slightly injuring eight people Deputy ihiildlng Commissioner Robert LiMandri said in a statement that the city would not let work resume until construction manager Tisftfhan Construction Corp provided a detailed report cm the accident and how to prevent future mishaps A Tishman spokesman did not immediately return a telephone message about the order early yesterday The construction crane's bucket foil from the top of the skyscraper at One Bryant Park around 1 pm Wednesday Deputy Fire Chief John Sudnik said A Bank of America tower is under construction at the site at West 42nd Street and Sixth Avenue: heard this loud noise like a truck falling from tiie said Gilberto Rios a restaurant weaker who was nearby The crane appeared structurally sound but the bucket nu a strut that heldthe crane to the building and bent it authorities said not clear what sent tiie bucket tumbling Those injured four passers-by and four construction workers suffered cuts and bruises authorities said Windows on several floors of the tower were broken and glass was strewn on the street An inspection after the accident found other cracked panes of glass that had to be removed Tishman spokesman Richard Keilar said Wednesday Tot in stroller killed by car BY MATTHEW CHAYES AND LAURA RIVERA matthewchayesnewsdaycom laurariveranewsdayaxn An 8-month-old boy died last night in Queens after a sport utility vehicle backed over him while he was in Ids stroller police and family members said The boy Kyle DiStasio of Floral Park was in the care of his grandmother at the time of the accident The grandmother was not injured The driver of the Cadillac Escalade remained at the scene and has not been charged "No criminality is a police statement said The accident happened around 3:15 pun in the College Point neighborhood when the driver was backing out of a gated parking lot near 18th Avenue and 120th Street car was reversing when I saw saw a neighbor who refused to give her name only saw the child after the first scream the lady screamed Oh my Kyle was taken to New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens At the accident scene last night friends imd neighbors lit dozens of votive candles in a makeshift memorial on the sidewalk near where the young boy was struck "To the family of the innocent someone wrote on a piece of cardboard God find peace and love in your NEWSDAY FRIDAY OCTOBER T9 2007 wwwjwwsdayxom PHOTO IY PATRICK MCCARTHY A memorial is set up for 8-month-old Kyle DiStasio of Floral (up tors lied after an SUV backed over his stroller Park who was kill.

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