Three-and-a-half years after being put under state control by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the New York Racing Association board of the directors approved a plan April 12 for a return to privatization at a meeting in New York City.

The board was required by statute to submit a re-organization plan to the state this month, with state control due to expire, also by statute, in October. On Tuesday it submitted three possible plans, one of which would extend the current re-organization board.

In 2012, Governor Cuomo seized control of NYRA following concerns about integrity and mismanagement. Though NYRA was scheduled to return to privatization last year, Cuomo extended the period of state oversight by one year.

The three re-organization plans submitted Tuesday differed only in governance and the make-up of the next board of directors. Under the first option, a 15-person board would have 11 privately appointed and four publically appointed members, two by the governor and one each by state Senate and Assembly leaders.

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