December 16, 2008, The Oneonta Daily Star: PSC prefers parallel NYRI route
By Tom Grace
Cooperstown News Bureau
December 16, 2008 04:00 am
link to full article is here: http://www.thedailystar.com/local/local_story_351040018.html/resources_printstory If the $2 billion, 400,000 volt NYRI power line must be built, paralleling the Marcy South line would be preferable to following the company's preferred route, according to staff at the state Public Service Commission. Marcy South is a controversial 345,000 volt power line, operating since the late 1980s. It runs through the towns of Richfield, Exeter, Burlington, New Lisbon, Laurens, Oneonta, Franklin, Delhi, Colchester and Downsville on its way from Oneida to Orange counties. NYRI Inc. has a preferred route that runs through Chenango and Delaware counties, and an alternative that roughly follows Marcy South. In a letter dated Nov. 26, PSC attorney Steven Blow wrote that the staff has refined a route based on NYRI's Marcy South alternative and believes it is superior to both options the company has offered. The PSC staff's alternative would deviate less from Marcy South than the company's alternative, and might allow more owners to sell residences than if the project were built along the company's alternative route. ``Briefly stated, we believe an alternative route that includes these segments is more reasonable than both NYRI's proposed route and its Marcy South Alternate,'' he wrote. ``The deviations away from and then back to the Marcy South right-of-way proposed by NYRI result in `islanding' these residences just to avoid taking them, possibly by eminent domain. ``It is the DPS (Department of Public Service) staff position that the affected property owners should be given the option of selling their property to NYRI. Only if they decline should NYRI's proposed deviations be used.'' On Monday, Anne Dalton, PSC spokeswoman, noted that routes come into play only if the commission decides the project is needed, which it has not. NYRI's proponents say the 190-mile line from Oneida to Orange counties will reduce transmission bottlenecks and improve the flow of electricity to the New York City area. Opponents say the project is destructive and if downstate needs more power, generating facilities should be built close to where the power is needed. In an e-mail Monday, NYRI spokesman David Kalson said the company would accept running its line along its Marcy South alternative or its original route. ``As you know, the PSC ultimately is responsible for choosing the route,'' he wrote. Earlier this month, the Otsego County Board of Representatives went on record as opposed to the project. Previously, county board Chair James Powers, R-Butternuts, has said the county and its municipalities will vigorously resist NYRI. Monday, Rep. Betty Anne Schwerd, R-Burlington, whose house lies in the shadow of Marcy South, said ``I knew they were going to try this. This whole route game is just a bait and switch routine.'' Nearly two years ago, Schwerd predicted that when NYRI was ready to be built, regulators would looking at Marcy South. Ann Law of Route 357 in Franklin lives next to Marcy South and the last thing she wants to look at is another power line. ``I regret it every time I see it out the window,'' she said. When Marcy South was built by Power Authority of the State of New York, the preferred route would have come near Otsego Lake and the Davenport home of U.S. Senator Daniel P. Moynihan. Groups formed to fight the preferred route and the line ended up being built along its present course, a path of lesser resistance. Law said it seemed that a historical pattern is poised to repeat.
—
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.
December 18, 2008, Albany Times Union: Tax Cap Eyed for Forest Lands
|
Tax cap eyed for forest lands
Plan could hurt Adirondack towns that rely on state payments for property taxes
|
| link is here: http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/storyprint.asp?StoryID=751664 |
| By BRIAN NEARING, Staff writer Click byline for more stories by writer. First published: Thursday, December 18, 2008 |
| ALBANY ? If local property taxes in the Adirondacks and Catskills climb in the next year the state won't pay more on its 3 million acres of forever-wild lands, under a cost-cutting measure in Gov. David Paterson's proposed 2009-10 budget.
The governor's proposed tax cap would be a first for the state, which started paying local property taxes on state Forest Preserve lands in the Adirondacks in 1886. These payments are key revenue for local governments in areas with large amounts of state land. Paterson wants the Legislature to approve capping state tax payments on such land at 2008 levels. In the future, any portion of increasing town, county or school property taxes not paid by the state would have to be made up through higher taxes on remaining property owners. "The governor's proposal is shortsighted and unfair to all local taxpayers," said Peter Bauer, executive director of the Fund for Lake George. "It has been a point of pride among Adirondack environmental advocates that the state, unlike the federal government, pays its full share of taxes to local governments and school districts throughout the Adirondack and Catskill Parks." Matt Anderson, a Budget Division spokesman, said the tax cap is "consistent" with the governor's plan to freeze aid to local governments during the fiscal crisis. The state Forest Preserve includes 2.7 million acres in the Adirondack Park and 288,000 acres in the Catskill Park. This year, the state paid $69 million in local taxes on forest preserve lands, Bauer said. Around Lake George, Bolton, Dresden and Fort Ann each receive over $1 million annually in combined county, town and school taxes from the state. Many other Adirondack communitiwes receive higher payments due to larger acreages of Forest Preserve within town boundaries. In Warren County, Johnsburg has roughly half its land in the preserve and relies on state taxes for about one-fifth of its budget. "A cap will harm communities and school districts with large amounts of forest preserve as other tax payers within these jurisdictions will inevitably be called upon to pay an inequitable share of local taxes as future costs increase for school costs and various local governmental services and support," Bauer said. Brian Nearing can be reached at 454-5094 or [email protected]. |
December 18, 2008, The New York Post: Hunter Mountain Celebrates 50 Years
Posted: 2:54 am
December 18, 2008
IT just keeps coming.
Snow and more snow is being dumped on ski areas from the Catskills to the Green Mountains with 3-6 inches falling in this latest storm and more predicted for tomorrow and Sunday.
This sets up great skiing and riding for the Christmas holidays.
After last weeks mention of Killingtons anniversary, our old buddy at Hunter Mountain, Jerry (Two Ls) Villanova, reminds us that Hunter is also in the midst of their 50th anniversary celebration.
The Hunter Mountain Ski Bowl will kick off the festivities Jan. 10. They say the party will continue for 365 days, ending Jan. 9, 2010. In between, there will be lots of parties, events, contests and competitions.
Hunter has been owned for these 50 years by the Slutzkys, who built the mountain trails then purchased it from a group of Broadway folks who built the place as a private playground.
Hunters owner and head of the family, Orville Slutzky, has spent most of that time mastering snowmaking to enhance conditions during Catskills winters.
The resorts first trails were named after New York City streets and locations. The resorts claims to fame, providing the largest singles location between New York and Montreal, and being the "Snowmaking Capital of the World" have drawn skiers and riders for all over the tri-state area.
Hunters snowmaking capabilities and recovery rates are famous with Hunters snowmaking team being called on many times to assist other mountains and events in snowmaking.
"The 50th Anniversary celebration is a one of past, present and future," said Russ Coloton, President of Hunter Mountain. "It is rare to find a family-owned and operated business that has remained as such since its opening. Fifty years of successful operation is something to be proud of in any and all industries, and we'd never be here without our guests."
December 18, 2008, Oneonta Daily Star: Delaware towns to gain from waterfront grant
Delaware towns to gain from waterfront grant
Delhi News Bureau
December 18, 2008 04:00 am
link to full article here:
http://www.thedailystar.com/local/local_story_353040012.html/resources_printstory
—
Delaware County communities are among six towns and villages that will benefit from a recently awarded state Local Waterfront Revitalization Program grant. The town of Olive applied for a $91,417 grant for the Esopus-Delaware Corridor Revitalization project, which involves six communities along the state Route 28 corridor from Olive in Ulster County to Andes in Delaware County. The partnership involves the Central Catskills Collaborative, the landscape architecture program of SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development. The groups will conduct community visioning exercises and produce both corridor-wide and site-specific designs for communities along the Esopus Creek and the East Branch of the Delaware River. Student internships will be included, according to a state document announcing LWRP grants. "This award showcases the importance of community collaboration and the tremendous benefits that arise when towns and counties view each other as neighbors and partners _ not rivals," Lisa Rainwater, Catskill Center executive director said in a media release. "All the towns along the Route 28 corridor will benefit from this revitalization strategy, and we look forward to working on this project," Olive Town Supervisor Berndt Leifeld said in a media release. The Central Catskills Collaborative includes representatives from seven municipalities along the Route 28 corridor _ the towns of Andes, Hurley, Middletown, Olive and Shandaken and the villages of Fleischmanns and Margaretville. The state Department of State Office of Coastal, Local Government and Community Sustainability will coordinate the grant with the town of Olive and provide technical assistance. The grant grew out of the recent designation of the Esopus Creek as a Designated Inland Waterway by the state Legislature, which was signed into law by Gov. David Paterson in February.
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.
December 18, 2008, Mid-Hudson News:Central Catskills Collaborative gets boost from Environmental Protection Fund
link to full article is here:
http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/December08/18/CCC_EPF-18Dec08.html
ARKVILLE - Four towns and two villages in the heart of the Catskills are hailing the award of a state grant to help revitalize their communities through the Local Waterfront Revitalization Program of the state Department of State.
The Town of Olive applied for the grant for the Esopus-Delaware Corridor Revitalization project and received over $91,000.
Town of Olive Supervisor Berndt Leifeld said the funds will be used to spruce up the Route 28 corridor to promote tourism and business growth.
“It’s time the state put a little money in (Rt.) 28,” he said. “It happens to be the Catskills’ biggest off-Thruway road and main street, basically, for the Catskills, especially in this area. It needs some work and some beautification and hopefully we can do something.”
Six communities along the Route 28 corridor -- from Olive in Ulster County to Andes in Delaware County – have formed a partnership involving the inter-municipal Central Catskills Collaborative, the landscape architecture program of SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and the regional non-profit, The Catskill Center for Conservation and Development, Inc.
Together they will conduct community visioning exercises and produce both corridor-wide and site-specific designs for communities along the Esopus Creek and the East Branch of the Delaware River.
Monday July 7, 2008, Times Herald Record: Sullivan bracing for enormous rush by natural gas companies
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Sullivan County, and your Pennsylvania neighbors along the Delaware, brace yourselves. The natural gas rush is on, and your lives will forever change.
Prospectors from national energy companies hoping to tap a fertile crescent of gas that stretches from Ohio to the Delaware River are knocking on doors, hoping to secure leases to drill on private property.
Supporters of the gas rush, like farmer Bill Graby of Callicoon, see opportunity beneath the lush fields of quiet towns like Fremont, Cochecton and Delaware.
Gas drilling will be a bonanza bigger than long-awaited casinos, supporters say. Workers in a county with one of the region's highest unemployment rates will find new jobs. Hotels, restaurants and gas stations will be jammed.
"It'll make this area bigger than Texas," says Graby.
Critics say the drilling could do more harm than the massive proposed power line, New York Regional Interconnect, that would slice through much of the same Sullivan area.
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Environmental opposition
Opponents fear the prospecting will usher in a parade of howling, road-crushing machinery that will pollute the water and scar the region's natural beauty.
"It has the potential to change the county more than the automobile," says Bruce Ferguson of Callicoon Center, where it's so quiet you can hear a propane tank hiss.
He's formed Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy, which wants stringent regulations and planning to protect the green land, mountain air and clean water that make Sullivan a haven for tourists and second-home owners.
Sullivan County, much of Pennsylvania and the tip of western Orange County are sitting on the end of an underground formation that has two times as much natural gas — up to 50 trillion cubic feet — as America produces in a year. Drilling has already begun in western New York, western Pennsylvania and even at one site, a few miles from Honesdale, in Wayne County, Pa.
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Leasing agents called land men are cutting deals and stockpiling land at prices up to $2,500 per acre. If gas is found in the formation called Marcellus Shale, royalties could soar to as much as $20,000 per month.
With stakes that high, a line has already been drawn in the shale.
Is gas the "golden egg?"
Dairy farmers like Graby, who are struggling to cope with fuel and feed prices that have doubled in two years, say the influx of gas money will help save their farms and ultimately keep open spaces open.
Graby is co-chairman, along with activist Noel Van Swol, of the Sullivan-Delaware Property Owners Association, a group of about 500 land owners of some 60,000 acres angling to negotiate the best price for drilling rights — a price he estimates at $150 million.
"Unless you want all the land to end up in the hands of the wealthy, or go for back taxes to the county or see it developed, this is the way to go," says Tom Shepstone, a former planning adviser for the Town of Bethel.
He's leased 30 acres of his land just next to Sullivan in Damascus, Pa., for about $2,000 an acre, helped organize other land owners and written environmental protections into the leases.
But those who fear the impacts of drilling say that gas is the golden egg that could destroy the goose.
New roads will be carved into green fields and forests. Drills will bore through miles of rock day and night. Second-home owners — the backbone of growing hamlets like Callicoon, Narrowsburg, Jeffersonville and Barryville — will be scared away.
Critics want regulations and protections.
In for the long haul
The Energy Act of 2005 does not require companies to disclose what chemicals are used in the drilling process called "fracking" — shattering the shale horizontally to free the gas. It's that technology that finally allows drilling so deep.
Many fear that ground and well water will be contaminated with drilling chemicals and the ground's natural toxins. This is especially worrisome since all of the gas sits so close to — and perhaps beneath — the Delaware River and the New York City drinking water supply.
And because round-the-clock drilling can hit 100 decibels — as loud as a jet plane, says Wes Gillingham of the Catskill Mountainkeeper environmental group — residents without wells may suffer.
"This is America and you can do what you want with your land," he says. "But it's our job to make sure we protect that land."
In fact, the gas companies have appeared so quickly that local officials have been slow to do anything except hold forums.
There, residents from as far away as Colorado and Wyoming warn of undrinkable water, polluted air and sleepless nights — claims that Graby's co-chair, Van Swol, dismisses as "hysteria."
While this gas rush might be new to Sullivan, drilling companies are planning for the long haul.
"Once we drill, we expect to be in a location for many decades," says Jim Gipson, a spokesman for Chesapeake Energy, one of the companies soliciting leases in Sullivan. "We come with the intention of being a long-term, positive influence."
This is why Sullivan County Planning Commissioner Bill Pammer and others want the gas rush to slow down. They want energy companies to pay towns up front for impacts on roads, land, air and water.
The Delaware River towns of Highland, Tusten and Cochecton even voted to seek gas-drilling moratoriums, which likely won't stand up in court, to delay the inevitable.
But while those who favor drilling dismiss environmental concerns, hardly anyone disagrees with this:
"They're coming," says Pammer.
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writeCPMAd();December 17, 2008, Galveston County Daily News: A Brief History of the Christmas Tree
http://galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=5c563ddbe1236d8c&-session=TheDailyNews:42F943861db6c02C2FKlR2C3E222
A Christmas tree is part of many people’s holiday season. There are a variety of area outlets offering freshly cut Christmas trees. About 150 Christmas tree farms in Texas produce 200,000 trees annually on 2,500 acres. Christmas trees grown on the 2,500 acres in Texas supply the oxygen needs for 45,000 people on a daily basis. (The United States has about 500,000 acres of Christmas trees; they supply oxygen to 9 million people a day.)
Either cutting your own Christmas tree or selecting one at the local lot and then bringing it inside the home are all part of modern family traditions. To many, the beginning of the holiday season is decorating a tree. The aroma, beauty and special adventure of having a tree is sensed by all in the home.
Of the many traditions involving plants associated with Christmas, the Christmas tree is probably the most beloved. A wide-eyed child gazing at his or her first Christmas tree is far removed from ancient Romans shouting incantations to a decorated tree. Yet, it is from these cultures that the Christmas tree custom originated.
While most people probably believe that this Christmas tree tradition has always been with us in the United States, a historical overview of how Christmas trees rose to such prominence is quite interesting and not always precise. The following provide a synopsis of some Christmas tree traditions through the centuries:
• The decorated Christmas tree can be traced back to the ancient Romans, who, during their winter festival, decorated trees with small pieces of metal.
• An evergreen, known as the Paradise tree, was decorated with apples as a symbol of the feast of Adam and Eve held on December 24 during the middle ages.
• Christmas trees were sold in Alsace in 1531. Alsace was at that time a part of Germany. Today it is part of France. The trees were sold at local markets and set up in homes undecorated.
• In the Ammerschweier in Alsace, there was an ordinance that stated no person “shall have for Christmas more than one bush of more than eight shoe lengths.”
• Sixteenth century folklore credited Martin Luther as being the first to decorate an indoor tree. After a walk through a forest of evergreens with shining stars overhead, Luther tried to describe the experience to his family and showed them by bringing a tree into their home and decorating it with candles. Some historians state that the first evidence of a lighted tree appeared more than a century after Martin Luther’s death in 1546.
• The oldest record of a decorated Christmas tree came from a 1605 diary found in Strasburg, France (Germany in 1605). The tree was decorated with paper roses, apples and candies.
• The first record of Christmas trees in America was for children in the German Moravian Church’s settlement in Bethlehem, Penn., during Christmas in 1747. Actual trees were not decorated, but wooden pyramids covered with evergreen branches were decorated with candles.
• The custom of the Christmas tree was introduced in the United States by Hessian troops during the War of Independence. An early account tells of a Christmas tree set up by American soldiers at Fort Dearborn, Illinois, the site of Chicago, in 1804. Most other early accounts in the United States were among the German settlers in eastern Pennsylvania.
• Charles Minnegrode introduced the custom of decorating trees in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1842.
• By 1850, the Christmas tree had become fashionable in the eastern states. Until this time, it had been considered a quaint foreign custom.
• Mark Carr brought trees from the Catskills to the streets of New York in 1851, and opened the first retail Christmas tree lot in the United States.
• Franklin Pierce was the first president to introduce the Christmas tree to the White House in 1856 for a group of Washington Sunday school children. The first national Christmas tree was lighted in the year 1923 on the White House lawn by President Calvin Coolidge.
• The first Christmas tree in a church seems to have been in 1851 by Pastor Henry Schwan in Cleveland, Ohio. At first, his parishioners objected to this practice. Some members of the congregation even threatened him with harm. But the minister convinced his flock that Christmas trees were a Christian rite, and opposition soon stopped.
New customs, even those as fine as the decorating of Christmas trees, often receive strong resistance when first introduced. The tradition of the Christmas tree is no exception — hot tempers cool, enthusiasm grows, and new practices become old traditions.
Take a moment to truly look at your tree this year and see the history. For most people, Christmas trees represent psychological comfort across time, generations and a changing world — after the onslaught of Hurricane Ike, such comfort takes on a special significance this holiday season.
Dr. William Johnson is a horticulturist with the Galveston County Office of Texas AgriLife Extension Service, The Texas A&M System. Visit his Web site at http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/galveston.
December 2, 2008, The Oneonta Daily Star: Opponents seek NYRI line below the ground underground
Opponents seek NYRI line below the ground underground
By Tom Grace
Cooperstown News Bureau
December 02, 2008 04:00 am
—
NYRI's opponents have asked the state's Public Service Commission to consider running the proposed 400,000-volt power line underground through Otsego and Delaware counties.
CARI, an umbrella group of opponents, suggests the massive new electric line, the above-ground cost of which has been estimated at $2 billion, could follow the route of the Marcy South power line, or alternatively trace the New York State Thruway.
Marcy South is a controversial 345,000-volt power line that has been operating since the late 1980s. It runs through the towns of Richfield, Exeter, Burlington, New Lisbon, Laurens, Oneonta, Franklin, Delhi, Colchester and Downsville on its way from Oneida to Orange counties.
New York Regional Interconnect Inc. proposes building a new line along a different route from Oneida to Orange counties. Its 10-story-tall towers would cut through Chenango and Delaware counties, following rights-of-way owned by the New York Susquehanna & Western Railway and NYSEG for much of the route.
Opponents say the project is not needed, but if allowed, should follow an existing corridor. Communities Against Regional Interconnect made the formal suggestion this week in a submission to the PSC. The group has representatives from eight counties.
``I want to stress that we don't think NYRI is needed or well-designed, but if they have to run it, it would make more sense to follow an existing path,'' Eve Ann Shwartz, co-chairwoman of Stop NYRI Inc., said Friday.
Stop NYRI is a part of CARI.
``And if they have to do it, do it right this time. Put it underground,'' she said.
By burying the line, she said, the firm would avoid permanently scarring the landscape, depressing land values, and would minimize health risks to those who live nearby.
``If they chose to go along the Marcy South route, maybe they could run both lines underground and get rid of the eyesore,'' Shwartz added.
NYRI spokesman David Kalson said Monday that running the line undergound is ``cost prohibitive and not technically feasible.
``Setting aside technical hurdles, on the cost issue alone, even if you took the lowest CARI figures, the line would still be twice as expensive as an above-ground line _ obviously an important factor in the PSC's decision-making process.''
James Powers, R-Butternuts, chairman of the Otsego County Board of Representatives, said he didn't need to see the proposal to comment.
``We don't want NYRI in this county, and if they come this way, they'll have their hands full,'' he said. ``If the need is more power downstate, they should build more generating capacity downstate.''
New Lisbon Town Supervisor Robert Taylor, whose 240-acre farm adjoins Marcy South, said he liked the idea of burying the line if regulators determine a new transmission line is needed.
``That way, at least, there would be a lot less distress after they're done,'' he said.
Taylor said he couldn't comment on CARI's proposal before reading it, but he could see the logic of following an existing corridor rather condemning more land.
Shwartz said technological advances have greatly reduced the cost of burying lines. It might cost twice as much to bury a line initially, but the long-term benefits are worth it, she said.
Public comment about NYRI's project has been overwhelmingly negative at hearings held by the PSC. If another route were seriously considered, she said, the PSC would likely schedule more hearings in those areas.
NYRI's backers have said their project would help alleviate ``congestion'' by moving cheaper power from upstate New York to New York City. At one time, they estimated the project would raise the cost of wholesale electricity in upstate New York, but Kalson has said company experts no longer believe this would happen.
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.
December 12, 2008, WKTV: Public Service Commission staff recommends NYRI power line follows Marcy
(WKTV) - The Public Service Commission staff is recommending the proposed NYRI transmission line follow the Marcy South route.
Multimedia
That recommendation was made to the four commissioners who will ultimately make a final decision on whether or not New York Regional Interconnect will build a power line through Central New York.
A spokesperson for the PSC says the commissioners will look at that recommendation as well as information gathered at public hearings.
A final decision is not expected until at least the fall of next year.
December 12, 2008, Blood Horse: A New Casino Push in New York
A New Casino Push in New York
by Tom Precious
Date Posted: 12/12/2008 1:55:46 PM
Last Updated: 12/13/2008 11:28:59 AM
link to original article is here:
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/48412/a-new-casino-push-in-new-york
Three casinos would be permitted in New York’s Catskills tourist region under a constitutional amendment introduced in the Legislature for consideration next year.
The new approach to expand gambling in an area 90 minutes outside Manhattan comes after seven years of failed attempts to get Native American-run casinos in the region.
“The Indian route would not have worked in the Bush administration and it may or may not work in the (president elect) Obama administration,’’ Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, a Democrat who chairs the Assembly’s racing and wagering committee, said of failure to get federal approval for the Native American-owned casinos.
The proposal would permit up to three privately-owned casinos in Sullivan County. Because it amends the constitution, the resolution requires two separately elected sessions of the state Legislature to approve it before going to a statewide referendum. The earliest a statewide vote could occur, if the Legislature acts in the coming session, is 2011.
Pretlow, who said he expects the same proposal to be introduced soon in the Senate, said the state would bring in far more revenues for the government by going with private operators rather than Indian-owned facilities. The Indian proposals in the past called for the state getting just a share of slot machine revenues.
Pretlow estimated the state could make $1 billion a year from the three casinos, which would include revenues from a share of all forms of gambling and not just slots. The lawmaker has introduced two measures identical in language except that one would also permit sports gambling, including betting on horse racing. He said the sports gambling plan is a placeholder in case the federal government relaxes its prohibition on that form of wagering.
With a proliferation of new gambling in New York in recent years, Pretlow said he sees voters approving the Sullivan casino plan because it would be limited to economically ailing region of the state. He said the state is also losing huge sums with bettors now heading to Connecticut and Atlantic City to wager at casinos.
Within a few weeks of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, legislation was approved permitting racetrack casinos and up to three Indian-owned casinos in the Catskills. While most of the racetrack casinos have opened – Aqueduct, expected to begin construction on a new casino in early 2009, is the last approved facility yet to open – the Indian casinos were stalled by infighting within tribes, state inaction, and federal opposition.
“I think the time is right now,’’ Pretlow said in an interview.
In an unrelated bill, Pretlow has also introduced a measure to expand the types of games offered at racetrack casinos. The electronic table games, to be run by the state Lottery system, would include roulette, baccarat, craps, and blackjack.
“It’s to get more play at the racinos. The thought is this may attract gamblers who are not into slot machines,’’ Pretlow said. The bill is backed in the Senate by Sen. John Bonacic, who represents the Catskills region and has talked of trying to get the measure included in upcoming state budget talks as a way to raise revenues for the deficit-ridden state.
The Senate is also pushing a plan to permit a casino at Belmont Park, but Pretlow said he and Assembly Democrats oppose the idea.
