Jay-Z, Flake Pull Out of Aqueduct Project

MYFOXNY.COM - The public relations train wreck continues for Gov. David Paterson. The aqueduct casino should be a great thing for New York; instead questions are popping about ethics and people.

The Rev. Floyd Flake and rapper Jay-Z have pulled out as investors. They will no longer be part of Aqueduct Entertainment Group, the company chosen to develop a casino and entertainment complex at the racetrack.

They quit just before the deadline requiring them to give personal financial information. Flake, in a statement said, he didn't want the distraction from his church and community work.

A spokesman for AEG told Fox 5 that the company's other partners filed all the paper work. He said AEG is ready to give New York the required $300 million by March 31, 2010.

Political consultant Basil Smikle said that questions about how AEG beat out four other companies is likely to stall the deal.

"The political climate right now is such that there are so many questions swirling about the circumstances under which they got the bid in the first place," Smikle. "If I'm a competitor in the process I'm putting my hands up saying wait, let's take a look at this."

After AEG was chosen, word came out that the governor talked to Flake about getting his political endorsement for Paterson's election campaign.

The New York State inspector general is investigating and so are federal prosecutors.