New York State Commission to Study, Examine and Investigate State Agencies in Relation to Pari-Mutuel Harness Racing…

Alphabetical by name of corporation.

This series consists of background information and supporting documentation compiled by the Commission during its investigation of harness track owners and the associations licensed by the New York State Harness Racing Commission to conduct pari-mutuel harness racing.

Associations and tracks investigated were: Old Country Trotting Association; Roosevelt Raceway; Nassau Trotting Association; Yonkers Trotting Association; Yonkers Raceway; Goshen Good Time Park; Orange County Driving Park Association; Historic Half Mile Track, Goshen; Saratoga Harness Racing Association; Saratoga Raceway; Mid-State Raceway; Vernon Downs; Genesee-Monroe Racing Association; Batavia Downs; Buffalo Trotting Association; and Hamburg.

Operations and management of these licensees and lessors was examined from the time they began operations. The Commission traced stock ownership, studied financial records, and questioned witnesses in over 230 executive sessions (private hearings) at which the financial records, tax returns, bank and brokerage statements, and other records of witnesses were examined. Confidential investigations and consultations with witnesses and experts were also conducted.

These activities resulted in files documenting the operations and finances of harness racing associations and track owners. Records for each association may include: correspondence, including letters to Governor Dewey or the Commission charging various association officers with criminal or corrupt practices, petitions and letters approving of or opposing harness racing in various locations, and routine correspondence and memoranda; lists of stockholders with number of shares owned, date acquired, price per share, beneficial owner(s), from whom acquired, to whom transferred, number and price of shares transferred, and date transferred; dividend tabulations for individual stockholders; investigation reports on individual stockholders providing: name and alias, residential and business addresses and phone numbers, occupation and employment history, date and place of birth, physical description, parents' names, addresses, and occupations, former addresses, education (schools, dates, degrees), marital status, military service, criminal record, credit rating, and list of newspaper articles about the individual; completed questionnaires for associations, individual stockholders, and officers providing detailed information about the nature and extent of their financial interests in harness racing; stock and debenture charts showing owners and number of shares or amount of interest in corporation; transcripts of license application hearings;

Commission's recommendations regarding licensing of and stock ownership in associations; and exhibits submitted to the Commission by associations, including originals or copies of: stock certificates, minute books, by-laws, sale, lease, and mortgage contracts for land on which harness tracks existed or were built, contracts for construction of harness tracks, corporation income tax returns, corporation franchise tax returns, monthly audit reports, certificates of incorporation, concessions and service contracts, contracts with labor unions, raceway job application forms, applications to New York State Harness Racing Commission for license to conduct pari-mutuel harness racing, applications for pari-mutuel harness racing track membership in United States Trotting Association, lists of charitable donations (to whom and amount), and lists of employees with criminal records.

The series also contains several small groups of related files. These are: stockholder files (no indication of why separate files were kept for these particular stockholders) including questionnaires, stock dividend and interest schedules, and stock acquisition and transfer data; general investigation and administration files including investigation plans and procedures, hearing witness examination outlines and lists of witnesses, summaries of testimony in Commission hearings, summaries and abstracts of testimony in hearings of the New York State Harness Racing Commission (October 1953) and the Special U.S. Senate Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce (December 1950-March 1951), summaries of bills introduced in the Legislature resulting from the Commission's investigation and recommendations, interoffice memoranda regarding investigation of stockholders, correspondence with government officials and agencies regarding progress of the investigation, press releases announcing public hearings, noting bills passed into law, and listing recipients of questionnaires, transcripts of intercepted telephone conversations, investigation reports, information and articles on Building Service Employees International Union Local 32-E and its President Thomas F. Lewis, Nassau County Grand Jury presentment stating recommendations resulting from its investigation of labor union abuses,

correspondence with Nassau and New York County district attorneys regarding records and persons subpoenaed, New York State Harness Racing Commission statistics and financial data on harness racing, interoffice memoranda discussing statutes and legal issues related to harness racing and the Commission's powers and authority, data on harness track in California, Kentucky, and Illinois, schedules of harness racing association dividends and stock transfers, financial schedules for all tracks and associations, and Commission's reports to Governor Dewey of March 13, 1954 and April 30, 1954; Landis files: these are records relating to public hearings held before James M. Landis regarding charges of incompetence against New York State Harness Racing Commissioner George P. Monaghan by United States Trotting Association officials in 1957. The U.S.T.A. claimed that Monaghan had not carried out all the recommendations of the Moreland Commission, particularly concerning the divestiture of stock ownership by stockholders considered "undesirable" due to their criminal activities or associations.

The records include many of the 99 exhibits presented at the hearings, summaries of testimony, and files documenting the financial and criminal activities of "undesirables" including: investigation reports; financial records (e.g. bank statements, cancelled checks); stock dividend and transfer data; sworn depositions describing stock acquisitions and transfers; questionnaires; and criminal/arrest records.

Folder list is available at the repository.

All investigative materials in Moreland Act commission records are indefinitely restricted pursuant to Executive Law sect. 6 and 63.8 and Civil Rights Law sect. 73.8. Requests for access to such materials are referred to the Governor's Office.

Executive Session (private hearing) materials: Restricted; Executive Law, Section 63.8.

Investigation background reports on individuals: Restricted; Personal Privacy Protection Law, Section 96.1.c and personal privacy exemption of Freedom of Information Law, Section 87.2.b.

Federal and state tax returns: Restricted: Closed permanently; exempted from public disclosure by specific statutes, therefore deniable under Freedom of Information Law, Section 87.2.a.

Finding aid to the records, which lists subjects of investigations: Restricted; Executive Law, Section 63.8, Civil Rights Law, Section 73.8.