Charles Wait resigns from NYRA board

Charles Wait, who has been a member of the New York Racing Association’s Board of Directors for the better part of three decades, has resigned from the board effective immediately, NYRA officials confirmed Saturday.

No reason was given for Wait’s resignation and no replacement has been named. Wait did not return phone calls seeking comment last week. The NYRA Reorganization Board is scheduled to holds its first meeting of 2015 on Wednesday in Manhattan.

Wait, the president, chief executive office, and chairman of the board of the Adirondack Trust Company, served on the NYRA board from 1985 to 2008. He resigned from the board at that time due to differences with then-Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno. In 2010, Wait was re-elected to the NYRA board.

In 2012, when Gov. Andrew Cuomo had the state take over control of NYRA, Wait was appointed to the NYRA Reorganization Board. Wait even chaired one of the Reorganization Board meetings at Saratoga last August when David Skorton, the then-board chairman was absent.

Wait played a major role in the creation and execution of Saratoga 150, a summer-long celebration in 2013 to commemorate 150 years of Thoroughbred racing in Saratoga.

“Charles Wait served as a member of the New York Racing Association’s Board of Directors for more than 30 years with distinction, and his leadership was integral to the continued, sustained success of the internationally renowned Saratoga meet,” John Durso Jr., a NYRA spokesman, said. “We are deeply grateful for his service to our organization -- and his commitment to our great sport.”

Wait is the third person to leave the Reorganization Board. In 2014, Jane Rosenthal resigned from the board and was replaced by Marc Holliday.

Skorton resigned his position as chairman of the NYRA board effective Jan. 1 to focus his attention to the move he will be making this summer to head up the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.

NYRA recently confirmed that Anthony Bonomo would be the new chairman, though no official announcement has come from the governor’s office.

The Reorganization Board was initially charged with developing a plan for reprivatization that was to be voted upon by the State Legislature in October. However, in the state budget recently passed, there was a provision to extend the reorganization board until October 2016.