Steven A. Levine
Coordinator for Educational Programs
When
Fiorello La Guardia became mayor of NYC in 1934, organized crime and gambling
racketeers were his particular bugbears and he went on campaigns to wipe them
out. During Prohibition in the 1920s, organized crime had spread from liquor to
gambling, narcotics, and the “service of outlawed desires.” One of La Guardia’s
earliest public acts as mayor, shown on the following
video, was to swing his hammer to smash slot machines
and ceremoniously dump them in the Long Island Sound on October 13,
1934.
In the 79
years since Fiorello smashed and dumped those slot machines, a sea change in
government’s relationship with gambling has occurred as racetracks, like
Aqueduct and Yonkers, have become “racinos” filled with the slot machines La
Guardia loathed because he believed they took money from families that should go
to feed their children. New York State
voters will also be voting on November 5 on whether to approve a constitutional
amendment, backed by an alliance of gambling interests, Indian tribes, and
Governor Andrew Cuomo, to allow casinos to open in the Catskills, the Southern
Tier and the Albany area. The New York Times reported yesterday that the gambling industry has spent “more than $59 million on lobbying and
political contributions in New York” since 2005. We know that they are betting a big return on
their investment. I am sure if La
Guardia were here today he would be shouting to the rooftops against it. What do you
think?
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