Music festivals not coming to FMCP next year

From the Times Ledger:

The city Parks Department Monday denied applications from three entertainment giants hoping to use Flushing Meadows Corona Park for music festivals this summer after opposition from Borough President Melinda Katz. Madison Square Garden, AEG Live and Founders Entertainment were seeking to close off large portions of the park in order to stage for-profit, multi-day events, but were denied permits for the second year in a row.

“Without a fair policy in place, I remain opposed to any applications from for-profit organizations to run paid-admission events in Flushing Meadows Corona Park,” Katz said last week. “The absence of a revised policy, including a set selection criteria and process approved by the community, renders the process arbitrary and unfair. Cutting off public access to our treasured parks flies in the face of the very principle behind our parks, which is space designated for public access and equity.”

Parks had no further comment and AEG Live could not be reached, but Tom Russell, co-founder and partner of Founders Entertainment, understood Katz’s opposition.

No music festivals at FMCP

From the Daily News:

The city Parks Department has rejected all three proposals to host multi-day music festivals at Flushing Meadows Corona Park, the Daily News has learned.

Concert promoter AEG, the force behind the popular Coachella music festival on the West Coast, applied for a permit to have an event at the sprawling Queens park.

MSG and Founders Entertainment followed with applications for the site which housed both the 1939-40 and 1964-65 World's Fairs "Parks reviewed all permit applications thoroughly," said Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver. "While we are heartened by the interest in one of Queens' most historic parks, our primary concern is ensuring the park is available for the many New Yorkers who call Flushing Meadows Corona Park their backyard."

Officials said large-scale, multi-day festivals had never been held on the grassy areas of the park and were surprised by the number of applications the city received for 2016.

Take over our parkland, please!

From the Daily News:

Several Queens lawmakers are throwing their support behind a controversial plan to rent out Flushing Meadows Corona Park for a Coachella-like music festival next summer, the Daily News has learned.

“The Panorama Music Festival will provide a fantastic opportunity for Queens to take its rightful place as a New York City showcase,” U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Queens) said in a statement.

Several promoters, including concert giant AEG, have asked the city for permits to hold music festivals in the sprawling park that hosted both the 1939 and 1964 World’s Fairs. The Parks Department said it is reviewing all of the applications and has not made a final decision on any of them.

But AEG’s Goldenvoice division won over Crowley, along with City Council members Julissa Ferreras Copeland, Karen Koslowitz and Peter Koo, after promising to donate a portion of ticket sales to the newly formed Flushing Meadows Corona Park Alliance.

Did you notice that 2 of these are the same pols who sponsored the council legislation for the amicus brief in favor of taking away parkland for a mall? Why do Koslowitz and Koo want money toward the Alliance that they have been frozen out of?

Does anything these people do make sense?

Here come the Feds!

From the NY Post:

The feds are grilling state Senate Democratic insiders as part of an explosive probe into an alleged Aqueduct casino bid-rigging scandal, The Post has learned.

Investigators are asking questions about the roles of then-Senate Democratic leaders John Sampson and Malcolm Smith and others who were accused of helping the Aqueduct Entertainment Group (AEG) land a multibillion-dollar casino contract three years ago, sources said.

The state ultimately rescinded the contract in 2010 amid a state inspector general’s probe into claims of favoritism. The IG’s office referred its scathing findings to federal authorities for potential prosecution.

The state subsequently selected Genting, an international gambling firm, to operate the Aqueduct slots casino.

It’s the second federal probe targeting Sampson. The Post last week reported that the former Senate minority leader is linked to a broader federal investigation into Queens Rep. Gregory Meeks and a convicted real estate developer, Edul Ahmad.

Smith, who has talked about running for mayor on the Republican line, also is being targeted as part of the Meeks inquiry, a law-enforcement official said.

Dems still paying for AEG probe

From City and State:

A source notes that tucked deep into an obscure campaign finance report for Senate Minority Leader John Sampson is a $5,000 expense for a top white shoe law firm, which is representing Sampson in the ongoing Aqueduct Entertainment Group probe.

The Manhattan law firm Thompson, Wigdor & Gilly received the payment in July 2011. It was the first time that an individual member of the Democratic conference has used campaign cash to retain the firm’s services, amidst a federal investigation into the AEG deal, campaign finance records show.

Sampson included the expense in an “off-cycle” report – rather than his normal January filing – for reasons that were not immediately clear.

A Democratic source confirmed that the new $5,000 expenditure was for Sampson’s personal legal fees.

Thompson, Wigdor & Gilly initially represented the Senate Democratic conference as a whole in the ongoing probe into the conference’s behavior in the 2010 bidding out of a $1 billion gaming contract that initially went to AEG.

First, the Senate Democrats spent more than $29,000 in taxpayer cash in early 2010 in an attempt to quash subpoenas related to the probe. Then, during the 2010 election cycle, the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee spent $118,000 more on legal fees — which helped put the conference more than $3 million in debt.

AEG subpoena fight cost state big time bucks

From City Hall:

Senate Democrats spent tens-of-thousands of dollars in taxpayer funds to quash subpoenas issued by the state Inspector General’s office seeking information about the conference’s role in the Aqueduct Entertainment Group scandal, according to Senate expense records.

On April 1, 2010 Senate Democrats cut a check for $29,300 to the Manhattan criminal defense firm Thompson, Wigdor & Gilly LLP—a payment Senate Democratic spokesperson Austin Shafran confirmed was used for a lawsuit to block the Inspector General’s subpoena requests, though the State Supreme Court ultimately rejected the suit. All of this came less than a month after the Paterson administration, under a cloud of scandal, shut down the AEG contract.

Shafran insisted the funds were used for official Senate business, and not to shield individual members from potential legal fallout.

In October, the Inspector General’s office released a scathing report that found several high-ranking Democratic senators, including now-Minority Leader John Sampson, Malcolm Smith and Eric Adams, among others, had acted improperly in initially helping AEG win a multi-billion dollar racino bid.

Notably, $118,000 in subsequent payments to Thompson, Wigdor & Gilly were made by the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee in June for individual legal services for Senate members. Shafran said the shifting nature of the case led Senate Democrats to pay the firm at first out of government funds and later out of campaign funds.

Thompson, Wigdor & Gilly did not return a request for comment about the firm’s role in the case.

Judge tosses Aqueduct suit

From Crains:

The state will continue with its selection of a new operator for a slots parlor at Aqueduct Racetrack after a judge Thursday dismissed the lawsuit by a former bidder that sought to put a halt to the process.

New York Supreme Court Judge Barry Kramer ruled Thursday afternoon that the state Lottery Division had a rational basis for its decision to deny a license to Aqueduct Entertainment Group (now called Aqueduct Entertainment Co.) and that it did not act in an “arbitrary and capricious” manner.

The decision paves the way for Lottery to continue vetting Genting New York, part of a Malaysia-based entertainment giant, which is the sole remaining bidder in what has been a drawn-out process. Lottery is expected on Tuesday to make its recommendation to state officials on Genting.

The NY Lottery is backing Genting as well. Not everyone is on board, however.

AEG as Aqueduct pick becomes more controversial

From the NY Times:

The Paterson administration has released a confidential document that assessed the various bidders vying for the rights to operate a casino at the Aqueduct racetrack in Queens.

The document, which was prepared by the state’s Division of Lottery last August, was turned over to The New York Times, which sought to obtain it through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The document is likely to raise new questions about why Gov. David A. Paterson and the Legislature selected the Aqueduct Entertainment Group, which does not fare nearly as well in the Lottery Division’s assessment as some of the other bidders. A.E.G., in fact, appears to be the fourth rated among six bidding groups in the running at the time.

Aqueduct deal dead again

From NY1:

Governor David Paterson announced today that the state has officially withdrawn its support for the deal to install video slot machines at the Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens.

The news comes after the Division of Lottery rejected the Aqueduct Entertainment Groups’ request for a gaming license.

The decision also comes after two of the project’s well-known backers, Reverend Floyd Flake and rapper Jay-Z, said they were backing out amid an investigation of why the group was selected.

Paterson says he wants to expedite the process to find a new operator of the proposed racino.

Feds talking with losing bidders in Aqueduct probe

From the Daily News:

The feds are trying to get losing bidders in the Aqueduct racino deal to dish about the chaotic process that led to the selection of a politically tied group, the Daily News has learned.

One losing contender said the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office contacted his group this week - the latest twist in the mushrooming scandal.

Prosecutors recently subpoenaed the state Lottery Division for documents related to the Aqueduct project bid process, although aides to Gov. Paterson insist the probe is unrelated to the racino deal.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office wouldn't confirm or deny the existence of an investigation into Aqueduct.

From the NY Post:

Paterson's office on Tuesday released documents related to the bid, which showed that AEG initially ranked last in terms of revenue it would generate for the state - but then jumped to first when bids were revised.

One gaming expert told The Post the dramatic change "looked fishy."

Meanwhile, questions were raised about some of AEG's invesment partners yesterday.

The Toronto-based 1X Inc, an online gaming software company, owns 4.4 percent of AEG.

Two of 1X's investors are principals in the Markit Group, which is being investigated by both the US Justice Department and state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's as part of a larger probe of the credit default swap market.

Markit has denied any wrongdoing.

CB10 okay with Aqueduct pick

From the Queens Courier:

There may be a steady stream of complaints assailing Governor David Paterson’s decision to award the Aqueduct Racino franchise to Aqueduct Entertainment Group (AEG) – but back home in Ozone Park – there are many smiling faces.

“We’re not unhappy that AEG got the contract,” declared Betty Braton, chair of Community Board 10 (CB10), the unpaid citizens’ council that advises government on matters affecting the community.

Braton, a long-time resident and member of the board, was careful to distinguish between her official position and personal feelings. “Every bidder made a presentation, which we reviewed, but did not vote on,” she told The Courier. “It’s a state, not a city matter, so it’s beyond our charter. We just advised our state elected officials.”

Nevertheless, at a CB10 meeting on Thursday, February 4, at which AEG representatives made a report, a number of hand-lettered “Thank You” signs were in evidence

Privately, Braton was plain-spoken about her personal opinions. “A lot of what’s going on now sounds like ‘sour grapes,’” she said. Paterson himself echoed the sentiment in a recent radio interview, saying, “A number of people who lose cry foul, and they think they can get some resonance.”

Buzz about the Aqueduct pick

The Daily News is none too happy with the Albany trio that decided on the Aqueduct winner:

The men who misrule Albany have plumbed new depths of public-be-damned irresponsibility in their flagrantly scandalous plan to bring casino-style gambling to Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens.

Gov. Paterson, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Democratic boss John Sampson picked a company to run thousands of slot machines at the decrepit raceway in dead-of-night secrecy that reeks of favoritism and fixes.

With hundreds of millions of dollars at stake both for the public and the firm that won the franchise, Paterson, Silver and Sampson solicited proposals from would-be gaming interests. Six submitted credible bids.

Since then, outrageously, the trio has:

* Refused to let the public see any details of the proposals - how much money each bidder put on the table, what skeletons they had in their closets or how their building designs stacked up.

* Repeatedly changed bidding rules in the middle of the game, demanding increasingly fat upfront payments to plug holes in the state budget.

* Fomented an orgy of campaign donations and spending by politically connected lobbyists.

* Generally conducted themselves so badly that developer Steve Wynn - Mr. Vegas himself - walked away in disgust.

But Governor Paterson said they weren't his first choice.

The winner is wasting no time starting on the project:

Aqueduct Entertainment Group, the partnership that was selected by Gov. David Paterson to develop Aqueduct, said it will unveil its construction schedule to the community in Ozone Park, Queens, Thursday night. Those plans involve beginning pre-construction of the site on Friday.

And the NY Post discovered the following:

The group awarded the contract to install and manage 450 video slots terminals at Aqueduct Racetrack was initially deemed "not qualified" by the state, The Post has learned.

So....honest graft?

Paterson picks a winner

From Crains:

Aqueduct Entertainment Group has been selected to develop the racino at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, announced Gov. David Paterson late Friday afternoon. But there are some caveats.

The decision ends a drawn out bidding process that began six months ago and has been closed to the public. AEG edged out a team led by SL Green, Manhattan's largest commercial landlord, which at one time was seen as Mr. Paterson's favorite. Three other bidders, Delaware North's Aqueduct Gaming, R. Donahue Peebles/MGM Mirage and Penn National Gaming, also came up empty handed. One other bidder, casino mogul Steve Wynn, last year dropped out of the contest to revive the rundown racetrack in Ozone Park.

“After an extensive review of the five remaining bids to operate the video lottery terminals at Aqueduct racetrack, I have chosen and the leaders (of the state Assembly and Senate) have agreed the organization that best fulfills our selection criteria,” Mr. Paterson said, in a press statement. “All of the groups have valid proposals, but AEG presented a comprehensive bid that enjoys community support and also offers strong marketing appeal.”

According to a statement, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, one of the three decision makers on Aqueduct, agreed with Mr. Paterson's choice. However, AEG's selection is subject to conditions, which includes increasing their upfront licensing fee from $200 million to $300 million. He also noted that the winning bidder and its associates must possess a crime-free record to obtain a state gaming license.