The state Legislature this month rushed to the aid of the cash-strapped New York Racing Association, forwarding the agency some $8.4 million, the first installment of a $25 million unsecured loan — with more to come later this year.
Absent the loan, NYRA would fold, taking with it some 1,400 jobs.
This is not to be taken lightly.
But it has become abundantly clear that the scandal-ridden NYRA can’t stand on its own two fiscal legs — actually, the taxpayers’ two legs. The sooner it is put out of its misery, the better.
Interestingly, state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli two weeks ago approved this first installment — even though preliminary results from an audit show NYRA to be a significant credit risk.
That’s an understatement.
For one thing, nobody seems to know how the money will be spent. And the loan is to be repaid by video-lottery-terminal revenues from the Aqueduct racino — a project so deeply mired in its own scandal that it may never see daylight.
Which raises the question: Why would DiNapoli release the funds, given that NYRA barely survived bankruptcy previously and has repeatedly resisted cooperating with the comptroller’s auditors?
“This is a reconstituted NYRA, so it’s not the same entity,” claimed a DiNapoli spokesman.
So, instead of the old, corrupt NYRA picking the state’s pocket, there’s a “new” NYRA with no track record seeking an unsecured loan!
Nothing possibly wrong there, right?
Enough.
The cupboard is bare.
Time to abandon NYRA to its fate.