New York OTB off the market

NEW YORK - New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg appointed a new president to the city's offtrack betting corporation on Wednesday while taking down the company's for-sale sign.

"We are not trying to sell it," Bloomberg said at a press conference. "It is in the budget."

Bloomberg's decision to keep New York City Off-Track Betting Corporation in the city's portfolio erases an agreement reached last year with a partnership of Magna Entertainment and Greenwood Racing. Under the terms of that deal, the Magna partnership would have bought the OTB company for as much as $260 million in cash and a series of annual payments, if the legislature approved the sale.

OTB's new president will be Ray Casey, a former executive director of the city's Gambling Control Commission and Trade Waste Commission. Casey will replace Maury Satin, who took office in February last year.

OTB took in just over $1 billion in bets in 2000, the latest year for which figures are available, at 71 locations in New York City. That year, OTB paid the city $35 million.