NY Governor picks Aqueduct group to run lotto terminals

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Governor David Paterson said he and legislative leaders have chosen a consortium that includes a former Las Vegas casino executive to operate video lottery terminals at a horse racetrack in New York City.

Paterson said Aqueduct Entertainment Group had been chosen to run the project. Aqueduct says on its website its partners include The Navegante Group led by Larry Woolf, who is the former chairman of MGM Grand Hotels in Las Vegas, along with GreenStar Services Corporation and Turner Construction Company.

Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said he agrees with the selection of Aqueduct, subject to several conditions including an increase of the up-front licensing fee to $300 million from $200 million.

The video lottery terminals will be installed at Aqueduct

Race track in the New York City borough of Queens.

The project, which has repeatedly stalled, will provide the state with a "critical revenue stream," Paterson said in a statement late last week.

State legislators are scrambling for additional revenues to help close massive budget shortfalls from falling tax revenues in the worst recession in seven decades.

The New York Racing Association, which operates three horse-racing tracks in the state, had said it may not be able to hold the Belmont Stakes -- the thoroughbred race held every June that is part of the Triple Crown -- without video lottery terminal money.

(Reporting by Chris Reese; Editing by Kenneth Barry)