New York City OTB Gets New Boss

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has named Ray Casey, who directed the city's Trade Waste Commission, to head New York City Off-Track Betting Corp., the New York Post reported Feb. 21. Bloomberg also said the city wouldn't sell the betting corporation, at least for now.

"Whether or not the city would be better off operating it or selling it is partly a function of how good a job Ray Casey does, and what the market is," the Post reported Bloomberg as saying during a news conference.

Rudolph Giuliani, the city's previous mayor, last year tabbed a group headed by Magna Entertainment to buy NYCOTB, though the proposed sale required legislative approval. The deal never went through.

Casey, a cousin to Giuliani, said he was brought in to make money for, not sell, the business, the Post reported.

The latest news comes only days after Barry Schwartz, chairman of the New York Racing Association, told The Blood-Horse he planned to renew the quest for NYCOTB. (NYRA also submitted a bid for the corporation in 2001.) Schwartz said he planned to meet with Bloomberg to discuss a proposal.