In the past the city's Off-Track Betting board has been accused of making "hollow threats," but yesterday it followed through, laying off 1,300 employees. It says that if Albany doesn’t come through with financial aid, it will be forced to board up all of its 66 gambling parlors. Gov. Paterson is in favor of deferring its $3.7 million in debt, reports the News, but legislators—mired in their own battle to close the state’s $9 billion budget gap—seemed ready to let OTB sink, criticizing it for poor management and “unconscionable delays” in handing over financial records. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver sounded final in his condemnation of the betting institution and its employees: "We cannot reach a three-way agreement on it to keep them afloat," he said, speaking of talks with the state Senate and the governor.