....August 20, 4:01 PM
	Bidders Enter Last Leg Of Horse Race Bidders in the race to bring video lottery terminals to Aqueduct have finished their proposals and await a decision from the state – expected as soon as Labor Day. By Vladic Ravich The decision on the Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park has spanned three governors, a boom and bust economic cycle and a third round of bidding. Now the process has come down to six companies who have all filed their bids by the last week of July. According to Alan Rubin, a lobbyist working for Wynn Resorts, the decision is expected to come around Labor Day weekend. A spokeswoman for the Governor's office was unable to confirm or deny this day and explained that "releasing specific information on the bids impairs the State's integrity in the evaluation process and hampers the State's ability to reach a timely decision based on a bidder's first and most sincere offer." The decision will be made by President of the Senate Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans), Gov. David Paterson and Speaker of the Assembly Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan). The new bidding process follows the collapse of the deal reached with Delaware North to develop the long neglected racetrack after the company was unable to raise the necessary capital to begin the project. The facility will still have horse racing, which will be managed by the New York Racing Association, as well as 4,500 video lottery terminals (VLTs) and various shopping and entertainment facilities. The VLTs are basically video game machines that pay out money using a random number generator - roughly analogous to electronic scratch-off lottery tickets or video slot machines. New York State will tax the proceeds at a rate of 70 percent. The state will kick in $250 million to the winner for construction costs. The companies bidding for the facility have all promised to bring jobs and economic development to the area, while also generating hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for the State. The number of VLTs in the northeast region has been growing very rapidly in recent years, jumping from 35,000 a few years ago, to over 1 million today, according to a spokesman for Wynn Resorts. There are many factors differentiating the proposals, including the number of local jobs provided, how much of the old facility to retain, whether to include a hotel in the first phase, what atmosphere is most appropriate for the facility, the financial strength of bidder to see the project through and long-term investment in the facility. One of the companies in the running is Aqueduct Entertainment Group, which lists the Rev. Floyd Flake as a partner. Though Sen. Smith has a previous working relationship with Flake and has said he considers the pastor to be his mentor, a spokesman has said that "never in the past and certainly not now would their personal relationship have any influence [on] the Senator [in] state business." Reach Reporter Vladic Ravich at vravich@queenstribune.com or (718) 357-7400, Ext. 121.