BAYONNE — Following recommendations made by the New Jersey Gaming, Sports and Entertainment Advisory Commission, Gov. Christopher Christie has postponed the proposed Bayonne Off-Track Wagering project until legislation can be passed that permits OTWs to function without live racing.
Last year, the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, the agency that operates the Meadowlands Racetrack, signed an agreement that will place an off-track wagering facility on a 6-acre tract on Route 440 North in Bayonne, just off the East Fifth Street exit.
Two years and half ago, the NJSEA opened its first OTW facility in a strip mall in Woodbridge, where $2 million is wagered weekly.
The Bayonne facility would include a restaurant similar to the McLoone’s at the Woodbridge site. The facility was expected to generate 100 full and part-time jobs, including OTW staff, security, maintenance, and food service.
Under a referendum passed in 1999, the state can open up to 15 such facilities, although these are divided into regions and operated by different authorities.
Christie said he is using the advisory commission’s recommendations as a guide for creating and sustaining a better economic environment to support the long term viability of the state’s gaming, professional sports, and entertainment infrastructure.
The postponing of the Bayonne facility is part of series of steps to help deal with the issues confronting New Jersey’s gaming, professional sports, and entertainment industries in light of some of the state’s current fiscal crisis including high unemployment and reduced racing revenues, according to a release. Some of the changes include the possible closing of Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford as a state-run operations and the possible leasing of the facilities to private horse-racing interests.