Gowand -

Excellent insight. NYRA has been paying taxes on those properties since the 1950's and I'd wager they won't roll over easily. This issue of the franchise for NY Racing has been nothing but a political power struggle originating when slots were on the fast track. The real issue was who was going to control and benefit most from those dollars. It's still the issue and the main reason Magna is interested at all. Along the way and through a myriad of specious investigations NYRA was found to have made some mistakes - somes serious errors in the way they conducted business. Most of those problems have been resolved or are in the process of being resolved. It would be interesting to see how any race track management group, charter authority, or even legislative office would hold up under the same bright light that came down on NYRA. Gowand hit the final point head on - the guys in charge of running NY State never saw a lobbying dollar they didn't love. If one side gets some traction, they will tilt the field just enough so the other side won't give up and they will keep those mighty dollars flowing from every avenue as long as they can. They are true professionals.
One last thing - in my opinion - NYRA consistently puts on the best show in the country when it comes to racing product. Imagine what they could do with slot revenue.