After more than nine years of false starts, the New York State Lottery Commission, now in charge of the selection process, has posted a call for Aqueduct Racino bidders, giving them until Tuesday, June 29 to respond and promising a winner’s recommendation to Governor David Paterson five weeks after that – by August 3.
The announcement, on Tuesday, May 11 declared that the entire Request For Proposals (RFP), with eight appendices, and five other sets of required paperwork appear on both the Lottery and Governor’s web site, “To make the process as transparent as possible.”
According to the RFP, it is “approved in advance by the Governor,” who intends to accept their recommendation. The other two parties to agree will be Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate President Malcolm Smith.
Prospective bidders must attend a conference at noon on Tuesday, June 8 and submit the completed paperwork by 4 p.m. four weeks later. They are also cautioned that Questions & Answers and addenda may appear on the sites – they are responsible for keeping up to date.
Meanwhile, the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce and a group of horse breeders are threatening to sue the state unless a $17 million loan to the New York Racing Association (NYRA) is approved.
As New York State enters its seventh week without a budget and the state’s Inspector General (IG) is investigating the abortive selection of Aqueduct Entertainment Group (AEG) to run the Racino at Aqueduct racetrack, they say New York has breeched its contract with NYRA, operator of Saratoga, Belmont and Aqueduct.
As part of the 2008 franchise deal with NYRA, New York agreed to pay roughly $3 million a month to support racing operations if the planned Video Lottery Terminals (VLTs) were not operational by April 1, 2009.
The deal also included debt forgiveness and cash to NYRA, with the state getting clear title to the land under the race tracks, which has been valued at as much as $1 billion.
Governor David Paterson has proposed a $17 million bridge loan to NYRA to ensure that the Belmont and Saratoga racing seasons this spring and summer would not be at risk – with the money to be repaid from future VLT revenues. The Legislature has failed to act on it.
NYRA board member Barry Ostrager reportedly said recently that without additional money, NYRA would run out of cash before Saratoga opens its gates in July. If NYRA gets the $17 million from the state, it could get through the profitable Saratoga meet, he said.
The IG’s investigation is focusing on the State Senate, with Senate Democratic leaders Pedro Espada, John Sampson and Malcolm Smith; Senate Racing and Wagering Committee chair Eric Adams and Senator Joseph Addabbo, who represents the district around Aqueduct, called to testify.
According to senate majority spokesperson Austin Shafran, the meetings, where the senators would testify under oath, are being scheduled and senate lawyers are cooperating with requests for documents.
AEG lobbyist and former senator Carl Andrews has reportedly asked the courts to quash subpoenas for his testimony and documents after he ended an informal meeting with the IG’s office.
Governor Paterson and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver have already met with IG probers, according to reports.
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