NEW YORK—The New York Racing Association has failed to implement necessary financial reform after declaring a bankruptcy settlement agreement with the state, according to the state comptroller’s office.
In 2006, the nonprofit racing association, which operates Aqueduct Racetrack, Belmont Park, and Saratoga Race Course, filed for bankruptcy protection. Two years later it agreed to transfer ownership of its racetrack facilities to the state in return for a $25 million loan. However, the state then leased the racetracks to NYRA for $1 per year.
The racing association reported a $17.3 million loss in 2010, principally, the comptroller found, because the New York City Off-Track Betting Corporation was bankrupt—it typically provided NYRA with about $20 million annually. The association projected an $11.5 million deficit for 2011 and forecasts a $19.7 million loss in 2012.
NYRA expected to get back on its feet through Video Lottery Terminal (VLT), or video slot machines, which recently opened at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli previously audited NYRA twice.
“More than a year after my office’s last audit and real-time financial monitoring of NYRA, the organization still has much work to do to carry out the reforms we recommended,” DiNapoli said in a statement. “NYRA stands to squander significant revenue from the recently opened VLT franchise at Aqueduct.”
In previous audits, DiNapoli issued nine recommendations for reform, including surprise cash counts of NYRA clerks and collections, and documenting whether or not standards and services at NYRA are standard industry practices, such as transporting horses between NYRA tracks for free—though this particular practice is decreasing.
