I still have visions of three men in a room with bags of money being counted - the New York way to making decisions.

As long as the voters of NY tolerate a "three men in a room" form of state government things will never change. That being said, at least Governor Patterson says he's going to name AN OPERATOR of the proposed racino. I hope he keeps his word on this one.

Many moons ago I had the chance to meet the contingent representing Mohegan Sun's bid..At the time (April 09) they were very excited about the prospects of winning the bid..I spent a few hours with the group and they told me as much as they could with the app process winding down...They were deeply concerned with NYRA's premise of being an equal partner and putting no skin in the gamae...Mohegans plan would cost they a billion plus..the only caveat was that NYRA would need to refurbsih the plant and the State would have to redo the train station. The return would be enormous..a 4 star plus hotel and shopping complex...multiple dining options of star caliber and a "new"track that would draw on the area for years to come...Mohegan was deeply concerned NYRA had no interest in putting up a dime..The other bidders included the normal crooks..the biggest of course was SL Green and Deli North...both had bid even though they should have been DQ'd due to the fact they were in litigation against each other...a no go in the bidding process..Of course they are two of the finalists...The entire thing is a sham..A BS half assed bandaid and one that is rigged and riddled with nepotism..