Posted Feb 24, 2010, 2:54 PM
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New Yorker for life
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Borough of Jersey
Posts: 51,900
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http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/q...mnekhijZjsJmjN
Aqueduct deal gets bad 'rap'
By CARL CAMPANILE
February 24, 2010
A rapper war erupted yesterday over the controversial Aqueduct slot machines project.
Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons fired the first salvo, saying that Aqueduct Entertainment Group, which had courted Jay-Z as an investor, wasn't the best bidder.
Simmons said the firm he advises -- Penn National Gaming -- and not AEG should have won the contract to operate 4,500 video-lottery terminals at the faded horse racing facility.
"Why didn't the leadership just take the best deal for the people?" Simmons asked, referring to Gov. Paterson and legislative leaders.
Of AEG, Simmons said, "Theirs just wasn't the best deal for New York . . . Can any of my dear friends in New York government tell me where and when did it all go wrong?"
He said Penn National's bid was far superior to that of AEG, whose partners include powerhouse minister and former Rep. Floyd Flake.
"They offered the most money to the state, by $100 million, up front. They can pay the fastest because they have the money in the bank," Simmons said in a column on his globalgrind.com blog.
Simmons told The Post yesterday he wasn't personally "knocking" either Jay-Z or Flake.
"Jay-Z is a great guy. I don't think he's sweating it any more than I am," he said.
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