While we weren't crazy about avoiding eye contact with the grumbling, chain-smoking masses outside the OTB on Delancey street, it looks even SADDER when it's dormant. But there's good news in today's Post for equine enthusiasts who happen to enjoy gambling: a Democratic state assemblyman and a Republican Senator are joining forces to resurrect off-track betting. more ›

A little OTB update: Yes, it's still dead and its employees have been put to pasture...except for CEO Gene Rayburn. Earlier this year, it was noted that Rayburn was being paid $125,000 a month and it turns out he's on payroll through January 14. The Daily News reports, per the governor's office, "Rayburn has stayed on to 'finish everything up.' The restructuring specialist is dealing with the outfit's remaining issues in bankruptcy court and is making sure money owed to various creditors and staffers is paid out... By the time he is through, Rayburn will have been paid at least $750,000 for six months on the job. His predecessor made $175,000 annually." more ›

Mayor Bloomberg is dancing on the grave of OTB! Back in 2008, he refused to allow the city to keep supporting OTB, and the shutdown threat was real until Governor Paterson agreed to have the state take over. Yesterday, the mayor said of the now-shutdown betting operation, "OTB did make money, but they demanded 120% of it go to support the racing industry. It's not the city's obligation, thank you very much." The Daily News explains, "The closure put more than 1,000 people out of work and forced the state to assume $100million in OTB debt - and $504 million in pension and benefits for OTB workers." more ›

The city's off-track betting operation says it'll be closing its locations this Friday, because the State Senate failed to vote on a bailout package. NYC OTB CEO Greg Rayburn said, "We've continued today to do two things. One is to prepare for the shutdown, if it's necessary. And that could come as early as this week. And two, to continue to talk to people in the Senate and explain to them what the provisions are in the bill, answer questions and urge them to come and act before Friday, because, realistically, once you close, you close." more ›

Yesterday, the State Legislature adjourned without making a deal to save the city's Off-Track Betting establishments. While the city is ready to close the branches and lay off workers, the Daily News reports, "The question now, as one lobbyist says, is whether the city's OTB is 'really dead, or Freddy Krueger dead.'" Well, Governor Paterson thinks it's really dead. more ›

The struggling Off-Track Betting Corporation was given a stay of execution yesterday by the city, which granted them an extra week to try to avoid shutting down altogether. The OTB has been in serious financial troubles, having filed for bankruptcy last year and having laid off 1,300 workers already. They were expected to be forced to shut down completely by this Sunday without intervention from the State Assembly. more ›

After laying off 1,300 workers and wracking gamblers' nerves, the Off-Track Betting Corp. may actually get the state bailout they were hoping for. The OTB has said they would have to shut down by Sunday without a lifeline from the State Assembly, and the Assembly is working on a plan to help them out. According to the Daily News, state lawmakers are developing a plan that would thin out OTB management and cut the OTB's payments to the state's racing industry by about 10%. Assemblyman Gary Pretlow said, "We have to do something before the middle of next week, otherwise OTB goes out of business totally." more ›

The city’s Off-track Betting board issued 1,350 pink slips Friday, and today it’s suspended six-figure pay to consultants and executives—but only after interrogation by reporters. "Until a compromise is forged that saves these jobs, we will suspend our pay," the city's OTB President Raymond Casey said in a statement, but documents revealed he planned to continue paying consultants hired to rescue the organization. According to the News, “Four consultants—two with ties to [OTB] Chairman Meyer Frucher—and two law firms stood to make an estimated $4.5 million through June,” even as scores of workers lost their jobs after the institution filed for bankruptcy, demanding a state bailout. Following inquiries by the tabloid, they’ve been cut off. more ›

To keep tickets rolling out, NY off-track betting has tried appealing to the state and even hired sexy dancers—still, unless its bid for bankruptcy is approved the organization says it will be done for by the end of March, leaving 1,400 unemployed. The New York Racing Association, for whom OTB is an important customer, says it's "monitoring the situation closely" but another organization has dismissed the announcement as a "hollow threat." "NYC OTB used the same trick in 2008, the last time they went bankrupt," said New York Thoroughbred Breeders Executive Director Jeffrey Cannizzo. But Robert Garry, the OTB's chief financial officer, insists his organization will be broke by early April and in heavy deficit mid-month, reported the NY Daily News. This means the ticket stoopers might have to find real jobs, too! more ›

In its mission to reel in younger clientele, the Nassau County Regional Off-Track Betting location in Plainview is transforming its three-story "Race Palace" into a nightclub. Alongside the regularly televised racetrack programming, the evening will feature dancers and contortionists dispersed between three rooms for a night of what restaurateur Steven Carl tells Newsday is "good clean fun." more ›

Word is that some residents of Morris Park in the Bronx were not too happy when a vacant storefront transformed into an Off-Track Betting. On June 19th the Community Board's district manager, John Fratta, began receiving many angry phone calls from locals, after which he called the OTB offices to ask if they were opening a storefront in the neighborhood. They didn't know anything about it. By Monday, the confused community got some clarity when “We found out it was a movie, but they forgot to notify the neighborhood. The phone hasn’t stopped ringing. The outcry was unbelievable.” Bronx native Nick Sandow is filming his movie Ponies in the area, so take a deep breath Morris Parkers, we'd wager that everything will be okay. And OTB, don't get any ideas, Senator Jeff Klein says, “It is incumbent on all of us to ensure new establishments speak to the community before opening their doors"—and from the sound of it, the natives don't fancy you too much. more ›

After years of warnings, the city's Off Track Betting business may be out of luck as Mayor Bloomberg said the city may pull its funding and let the gambling business close. He told the OTB Board of Directors, "The City simply cannot take dollars away from schools and hospitals to pay for a gambling operation. We have no business subsidizing betting parlors at the expense of City taxpayers, particularly at a time when we're asking all agencies to cut their budgets." And what's more, the board agreed and approved the shutdown! more ›