Phoenix, NY — The Off Track Betting parlor just off Route 481 in the Oswego County village of Phoenix, and the Phoenix Sports Restaurant located there, are scheduled to close at the end of this month, the restaurant owner says.
Mike Lattimore Jr., who runs the restaurant with his father, Mike Sr., confirmed the restaurant and the OTB will close on July 29. The restaurant is a tenant of the OTB, he said. The Lattimores have operated the restaurant for 13 years.
The Phoenix horse racing betting parlor is operated by by Western Region OTB, which is a “state public benefit corporation” owned by 15 counties in Western and Central New York and the cities of Buffalo and Rochester. In addition to what it calls “super branch” OTB parlors in places like Phoenix and Auburn and other communities stretching west to Buffalo, it also has betting kiosks in many restaurants and bars in the region. It also operates Batavia Downs casino and harness racing track in Genesee County.
Syracuse.com calls to the Western Region OTB office and to the New York State Gaming Commission have not been returned.
The Phoenix OTB closing comes in the wake of a shake-up at the Western Region OTB earlier this year. State lawmakers earlier this year fired all the previous board members and shifted voting power on the agency’s board to favor more populated areas, like Monroe and Erie counties.
That came after a critical audit of the Western Region OTB operation issued by the State Comptroller’s Office in 2021. It found a lack of proper financial accounting and a practice of giving lucrative perks like concert tickets and free food and alcohol to board members, employees.
OTB parlors in New York have have also been dealing with a decline in the popularity of horse racing along with increased competition from the opening of large full-service casinos and the introduction last year of legal online sports betting.
Aside from the Auburn OTB, the next nearest OTB parlor to Syracuse is in Bridgeport,…
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