by Paul Post

New York Racing Association will auction off 64 vacant lots near Aqueduct to settle a $9-million judgment with the Internal Revenue Service.

The property is located between Belt Parkway and Aqueduct, where six firms are competing for the contract to operate a racino with 4,500 video lottery terminals.

NYRA has retained David R. Maltz & Co. of Plainview, New York to conduct the auction, scheduled for 1 p.m. EDT on June 10 at the track. A bidder’s seminar for interested parties was held on Wednesday.

"It’s extremely unique to have this many lots available in the five boroughs of New York," said Eitan Bouskila, a Maltz spokesman. "There’s been a lot of interest. We’ve had quite a few inquiries."

Richard Maltz said, "The land represents a rare infill development opportunity near the proposed several hundred million dollar casino at Aqueduct Race Track."

The site is zoned residential for single- and two-family homes. More than 325,000 total square feet is available, but most lots are not contiguous and some are land-locked, so a single, large development project is not expected.

In October 2007, the IRS said NYRA owed it $1.6-billion in back taxes and penalties. Among other things, the IRS said NYRA should have reported gross handle rather than takeout, NYRA's portion of the handle, as income on its tax returns. This resulted in $65.3-million worth of understated income, according to the IRS.

NYRA countered that it owed about 1% of the amount sought by the IRS. NYRA was then in bankruptcy and also argued that such a huge IRS penalty would make it impossible to satisfy creditors. The judgment was later reduced to $9-million.

For information about the auction, go to www.maltzauctions.com.

Paul Post is a New York-based correspondent for THOROUGHBRED TIMES