NYRA: Spitzer nod on 30 yr renewal

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by Benevolus

NYRA does a good job but the reality is that taxpayers made a loan to them and NYRA is basically defaulting on the loan. So the governor's friends get rich, NYRA once again has no accountability, and the taxpayer gets screwed.

That's nonsense and a misrepresentation of the truth. It was in fact the State of NY that regularly 'defaulted' on agreements made to NYRA that placed the Association in an impossible position.

It was the Pataki administration that purposefully delayed VLT construction at Aqueduct in the hopes of destroying the Association to the point where it could decide the franchise question in favor of its' cronies. NYRA had been waiting since 1985 for the State of NY to address the franchise situation, a scenario which had been festering as each passing Governor failed to tackle the issue(s). And how exactly are the taxpayers screwed in a deal where the state nets $870 million worth of assets?

And accountability? NYRA has had the ultimate accountability the last 3 years having to clean out the viruses introduced by the vile Kenny Noe during his corrupt tenure in the '90's. I'm just back from the track and the press conference with Steve Duncker, Jim Heffernan and Charlie Hayward which was deservedly celebratory. Hayward broke down during his opportunity to comment on things as he spoke about the Association being the object of ridicule during the franchise process. His stewardship during this period has been remarkable, and NYRA's repeated refusal to stoop to the level of the colluded smear campaign engaged in by the likes of the NY Daily News, Times-Union, Jerry Bailey and Jeff Perle is something for which he'll long be remembered.

NYRA and its' non-profit model was the ONLY choice for racing in New York, and today's announcement goes a long way towards ensuring that the quality of racing in the state is maintained and kept at the highest level possible. There are still questions regarding the OTB problem(s) to be addressed, but the 'good guys' won today, and we as racing fans are winners along with them.