DC 37 and Local 2021 have filed a lawsuit to put a “Not for sale” sign on the city’s profitable Off-Track Betting Corp.

Union attorneys went to court against the city, OTB and the city’s Economic Development Corp. for putting a $400 million price tag on the 68 betting parlors, three theaters and four restaurants that operate under the OTB banner.

In the suit, filed March 8 in New York County Supreme Court, the union charged that the sale proposal violates the state Racing Law and the New York City Charter.

“We believe the attempt to sell OTB is illegal and ill conceived,” said DC 37 Administrator Lee Saunders. “We are asking the court to order the city, OTB and EDC to stop the proposed sale.”

The city announced its intention to sell OTB in October. January’s preliminary city budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 included the expected income from the privatization effort, and it was recently reported that the administration is close to a decision on the plan. OTB Employees Local 2021 President Leonard Allen said the union would “fight the sale and fight to save our members’ jobs.” The local represents about 1,700 OTB employees.

The suit claims the city, OTB and EDC have violated the state law because they are not authorized to sell OTB. By putting OTB up for bids, the city usurped the state’s authority and sidestepped the city charter as well, said DC 37 attorney Mary O’Connell. The suit alleges that the sale violates the procurement provisions of the charter, under which a cost-benefit analysis must be conducted and presented to the Comptroller, the City Council and the union before any sale can be initiated.

“If a cost-benefit analysis were done, as stipulated under the law,” Mr. Saunders said, “it would show that the OTB should remain under public control.” OTB, once a money-loser, showed a $40 million profit in fiscal year 2000, due in part to the hard work of Local 2021’s members, he added. The revenues OTB earns provide funds for other vital city services like the police and fire departments. Keeping OTB public also prevents the financial abuses and corruption that could go undetected if the agency were put in private hands.

An OTB sale would require the approval of both houses of the state Legislature and the governor. Mr. Allen and union lobbyists are already working with state legislators to safeguard union members.

The lawsuit, he said, is a further step “to protect the jobs of our members, who took a loser and made it a winner. This is not the time to gamble with a winning hand.”