Empire State Games canceled for 2011

The Empire State Games - the Olympic-style contest that includes winter and summer competitions in lacrosse, baseball, swimming and other sports for high school and amateur athletes - has been canceled this year due to budget cuts, according to Long Island regional director Bob Kenney.

"Yes, they're canceled," said Kenney, who's worked with the Empire State Games in some capacity since 1978. "Definitely this year and maybe for good. There's no money in the budget. They've dismissed two employees and reassigned the other three."

The Empire State Games were set to take place in Lake Placid in the winter and Rochester in the summer. The games also include a competition for the physically challenged and a senior competition for the over-50 set. The games were suspended in 2009 for budget concerns.

The Poughkeepsie Journal first reported that the games were canceled, citing the director of the Winter Games Lisa Del Signore.

Eric Kriss, a spokesman for the state budget division, said he could not confirm that the games were canceled. However, he did say that the state department of parks and recreation would be hit with about 90 layoffs by the end of the year.

"There's no final layoff notice until Dec. 10," he said. "Until the final notice, we don't really know who's going to be laid off. ... Layoffs were a last resort for us. The budget assumes workforce savings and it [was either] one week less of pay or a furlough plan. The union rejected both. ... the only thing the governor could do unilaterally was lay off 90 people."