Senate mulls, while NYC OTB’s fate hangs in balance

Thousands of jobs and the financial security of thousands of families hinges on the opinions of a few men in suits. The NYC OTB is on the verge of shutting down, their employees caught in between a political struggle can only hope that Senate can come to some sort of agreement that will help them keep their jobs.

As it stands, the Senate’s Democratic majority lacked the votes to pass their party’s plan to reorganize the state-owned gambling operation and keep it from closing by midnight Tuesday, which is the latest bankruptcy deadline.

Since then, the Assembly has already passed that bill drafted by Gov. David Paterson, who is expected to immediately sign it.

But the political debate and power struggle wages on. Republicans currently in the Senate’s minority want the bill expanded to help the other half-dozen regional OTBs on Long Island and upstate. Across the board, all OTBs are suffering losses and want to modernize.

Can’t imagine what it must be like for those thousands of employees with so much uncertainty about their future…We’ll keep updating this story as it unfolds.