- Early reports in the NY Post and NY Sun, in advance of Spitzer's formal franchise announcement today, indicate that he will indeed propose that NYRA continue to run the racing in New York. No surprise there, at least for those of us who haven't been out of the planet for the last year.
But there are conflicting reports in the two papers as to the plans for the racino. The Post reports that the governor will put out an RFP [a request for proposals] on the casino side, attributing that to a "source familiar with the plan." The Sun reports that he will award the racino to one of the other existing bidders later this week.
The Sun also sheds a little light on the Post's report from yesterday of an impending Joe Bruno-initiated investigation into Getnick and Getnick's consulting deal with NYRA, noting that the decision to stick with NYRA could help one of his donors, Neil Getnick, the managing partner of the firm.
RSS Feed for this Blog
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Early Returns
Posted by Alan Mann at 9:22 AM
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 Comments:
Two things to look for;
1. How long is NYRA's franchise extension?
2. Do they permanently give up the land claim upon expiration of the extension?
If the answer to the second question is yYES Charlie Hayward has sold out the NY industry for personal gain.
I personally do not think he will do so, he seems like a legit fan of NY Racing who is doing what he feels is necessary to keep the franchise away from interlopers, even if it means lowering himself to playing Albany politics with the Getnick deal (and who knows what else lurks below the surface?).
Joe Bruno seems to be playing contrary cards. On the one hand his influential Saratoga constituents have endorsed NYRA for the franchise and on the other he is sniping at NYRA (and Spitzer) with the Getnick & Getnick sweetheart deal. My guess is that, in the end, this is mainly about having more leverage over Spitzer down the road as Joe would be foolish to buck the Saratoga business community and voters on making the NYRA franchise extension/ renewal happen. It's all fascinating politics as practiced by NY's most skilled politician, as the Spitz has found out the hard way. Let's just hope that NY racing doesn't become the innocent victim of this power struggle cum vendetta. /S/Green Mtn Punter
Post a Comment