Court dismisses Aqueduct lawsuit
Posted on July 29, 2010 by Howard Koplowitz in Governor
Schenectady Supreme Court Judge Barry Kramer tossed out Aqueduct Entertainment Corp.’s lawsuit against the state Lottery Division and state officials, which claimed the entities illegally reneged on the deal to award the consortium the contract for video lottery terminals at Aqueduct Race Track.
“The Lottery is pleased with Judge Kramer’s decision, which affirmed the fairness and thoroughness of the Lottery’s licensing and evaluation process,” Lottery Director Gordon Medenica said in a statement. “We will continue to apply the same rigorous standards and discipline to the current selection process for an Aqueduct operator.”
AEC, formerly known as Aqueduct Entertainment Group, sued the state in Schenectady Supreme Court – a suburb of Albany – after the Lottery decided not to grant the consortium a gaming license.
Scrutiny of AEC intensified after it was awarded the VLT contract due to the involvement of influential southeast Queens minister the Rev. Floyd Flake, who had a 0.06 percent stake in the group.
Flake met with Paterson three days after AEC was granted the contract, which led to speculation that the pick was politically motivated.
Flake subsequently backed out as an AEC investor and Paterson dropped his gubernatorial election campaign, although it was unclear whether Paterson’s decision was connected to the AEC scrutiny.
The Lottery has a Tuesday deadline for deciding whether to grant the contract to Genting NY LLC, which emerged as the only contender for the contract after the agency disqualified Penn National Gaming and SL Green earlier this month.
