By Brendan Browne
Officials at Off Track Betting are holding their bets.
A company spokesman said OTB still hopes to open a new branch in Fresh Meadows and gain the approval of Community Board 11 by addressing the concerns of residents in the community.
The board recently voted to disapprove plans for OTB to move from its current location in the Fresh Meadows Shopping Center at 61-44 188th St. to 183-07 Horace Harding Expressway, on the other side of the LIE.
Fresh Meadows residents say parking in the area is limited and that with a bar located next door, the OTB customers would create quality-of-life problems.
“We’re trying to solve the problems raised at the community board meeting. We hear them. We listen to them. We react to them,” said Denis McManus, OTB senior vice president. “We would like to alleviate those problems. We want to be a good neighbor.”
He said the new OTB facility, which would replace Tumbles, a children's play area, would be state-of-the-art and would not pose the same problems older branches have. Plans for the facility include seating for 60 patrons, a 20-seat smoking room so no one would have to go outside to light up, handicap accessible male and female bathrooms, and automated teller machines for people to place private bets.
McManus said OTB has also hired an architectural firm to design the outside of the facility so it is not an eyesore in the community. A security guard would also be posted, he said.
He did not specify how parking problems could be solved, but sounded eager to come up with a plan.
CB 11's decision will be forwarded as a recommendation to the OTB site selection board, comprised of City Planning and the Office of Management and Budget, Borough President Helen Marshall, Comptroller William Thompson and the commissioner of Citywide Administrative Services.
But first, OTB hopes to change the attitudes that led to the 35-6 vote to disapprove of the organization’s plans. CB 11 includes the communities of Bayside, Little Neck, Douglaston, Oakland Gardens, Hollis Hills and Auburndale.
You can reach reporter Brendan Browne by email at TimesLedger@aol.com or by phone at 229-0300, Ext. 155.
