Aqueduct Race Track

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Aqueduct Race Track

New York Cancels Queens 'Racino' Deal With Jay-Z-Linked Group

Justin Elliott | March 11, 2010, 5:16PM

Horses run at the Aqueduct racetrack in Queens. Inset, from top: Jay-Z, Gov. David Paterson (D-NY), Pastor Floyd Flake

Less than two months after Gov. David Paterson selected a politically connected group of investors, including rapper Jay-Z, to build a casino at a Queens race track, the governor's office today canceled the deal, reportedly because the investors didn't release sufficient financial information.

The Times reports:

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Topics: Aqueduct, Aqueduct Entertainment Group, Aqueduct Race Track, David Paterson, Floyd Flake, Jay-Z

Probe Of Deal To Build Queens 'Racino' Ensnares Gov. Paterson And ... Jay-Z?

Justin Elliott | March 4, 2010, 11:27AM

Horses run at the Aqueduct racetrack in Queens. Inset, from top: Jay-Z, Gov. David Paterson (D-NY), Pastor Floyd Flake

Authorities are investigating the winning bid of a politically connected group of investors -- including a prominent rapper and a former congressman -- to transform a Queens horse track into a "racino" amid suspicions that the contract, doled out by Gov. David Paterson, was awarded improperly.

In the long-awaited deal made by the state, a consortium of companies called Aqueduct Entertainment Group will develop the 50-year-old Aqueduct Race Track in Queens into a "racino" with over 4,000 video slot machines, restaurants, a large "entertainment center," and a hotel.

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Topics: Andrew Cuomo, Aqueduct, Aqueduct Entertainment Group, Aqueduct Race Track, Darryl Greene, David Paterson, Empowerment Development Corp., Floyd Flake, Gain Global Investments Network, Greater Allen A. M. E. Cathedral, Gregory Meeks, Jay-Z, Russell Simmons

Gregory Meeks

U.S. Attorney Subpoenas NY Officials On Rep. Meeks' Non-Profit

Justin Elliott | February 12, 2010, 12:24PM

Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY)

Authorities have served subpoenas to New York officials as part of an investigation into a non-profit group co-founded by Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), which reportedly cannot account for money it collected to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The focus of the U.S. Attorney's investigation into the Queens-based New Direction Local Development Corporation -- which was founded in Feb. 2001 "by the initiatives of congressman Gregory Meeks and [state] senator Malcolm Smith," according to its Web site -- is not totally clear.