Metro

OTB to shut down Friday

ALBANY — Don’t bet on OTB. The first layoff notices went out for more than 1,000 workers at the city’s Off-Track Betting Corp. yesterday as the Paterson administration charged ahead with a doomsday plan for the bankrupt bookmaking agency.

OTB President Greg Rayburn, in a memo to staffers, insisted that the state Senate’s rejection of an 11th-hour restructuring agreement Monday left the agency no choice but to end all bet-taking by the close of business Friday.

Rayburn called the OTB board to an emergency meeting in Manhattan today to formally approve plans to shutter 44 betting parlors and send layoff notices to some 1,034 employees.

Officials warned that closure of the $750 million-a-year, money-losing bookmaking operation could send shock waves through the horse-racing industry, jeopardizing as many as 30,000 jobs statewide.

OTB’s lucrative Internet and telephone betting services would also cease as of 11:30 p.m. Friday. Horse-racing enthusiasts would still be able to place remote bets through other OTBs and the New York Racing Association.

Three city branches would stay open for a week so bettors can cash remaining tickets.

The agency, weakened by waning interest in horse racing, has sputtered along in bankruptcy since last December, despite two shutdown threats and months of bailout negotiations.

Racing officials and key lawmakers said Gov. Paterson is serious this time.

“They’re not playing a game of chicken,” said Charles Degliomini, of Monticello Raceway’s Empire Resorts, a leading OTB creditor. “OTB is going to close if the Legislature doesn’t act.”

The latest restructuring plan would slash 400 jobs and give the New York Racing Association, which runs the state’s three thoroughbred horse tracks, control of OTB’s remote wagering systems. Union employees would give up double-time pay on Sundays.

The Assembly voted 83-46 yesterday afternoon to approve the bill, but the closely divided Senate left town Monday evening without so much as a vote.

While the Senate clearly lacked the votes to pass the plan, insiders speculated that members would have time to return later in December to save OTB from the brink.

But OTB Chairman Lawrence Schwartz, who’s also Paterson’s top deputy, said there would soon be no turning back.

“This is not a light switch,” Schwartz told The Post. “When you shut it down, you shut it down.”

brendan.scott@nypost.com