ALBANY - Gov. Cuomo seized the reins of the scandal-plagued New York Racing Association Tuesday.
Cuomo and legislative leaders announced agreement on a plan to create a new government-controlled “re-organization board†to govern NYRA for the next three years and re-structure the troubled horse racing agency.
“We have to restore the public trust,†Cuomo said at a news conference announcing the deal.
Under the agreement, Cuomo would appoint seven of the board’s 17 members and also choose its chair.
The Assembly and Senate majorities would also appoint two members each.
Administration officials said the new board would be smaller and “more manageable†than NYRA’s existing 25-member panel made up of many from the horse racing industry.
The existing board gave its unanimous approval to the agreement earlier Tuesday and is “wholeheartedly†behind the measure, said Board Member Charles Wait.
The agency, which operates the Saratoga, Aqueduct and Belmont horseracing tracks under a franchise agreement with the state, has been stung by a string of controversies.
NYRA President Charles Hayward and Senior Vice President General Counsel Patrick Kehoe were fired earlier this month after it was revealed the agency had short-changed bettors by $8.5 million over a 15-month period.
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the agency had short-changed bettors by $8.5 million over a 15-month period.
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