Aque-losers in leak pique
By CARL CAMPANILE
Last Updated: 3:39 PM, February 16, 2010
Posted: 3:01 AM, February 16, 2010
Two firms that lost out on the Aqueduct "racino" deal charged yesterday that state officials leaked confidential information in their plans to competitors -- including the politically wired winning consortium led by Queens minister Floyd Flake.
Sources close to Delaware North and Penn National Gaming claimed key details about their bids were given to Flake's Aqueduct Entertainment Group, as well as SL Green/Hard Rock, before Gov. Paterson and legislative leaders announced that the lucrative franchise was awarded to AEG.
The claim comes as Paterson prepares to release the bids of the four finalists today following weeks of criticism that the selection process was corrupt.
The US Attorney's Office in Manhattan and the state Inspector General's Office are investigating the Aqueduct deal and AEG's connection to a Queens not-for-profit group, New Directions Local Development Corp., run by associates of Flake and Senate President Malcolm Smith (D-Queens).
Delaware North lobbyist James Featherstonaugh said he was informed that "our bid had been leaked to both AEG and SL Green."
Another source said an assistant counsel to the governor had called his bidding group last week to notify them that Paterson planned to make the bids public, and asked if there was any proprietary information that they wanted held back.
"We just laughed. We know that our bid info was secretly given to AEG and another bidder a long time ago," the insider said.
A third source confirmed the claim, saying, "I don't know how and why they had our bids."
An AEG spokesman shot down as "preposterous" its rivals' claims that AEG got inside information on their plans.
An SL Green/Hard Rock source emphatically denied that the group had gotten an early peek at rival bids.
In a column in the Press, a Queens weekly, Flake defended AEGs' bid and dismissed the controversy.
"From my 30-plus years as a developer in this community, I can tell you that media innuendo does not build projects," he said.
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