The city’s Off-Track Betting Corp. is looking to shutter some two-thirds of its betting parlors as part of a bankruptcy proceeding, The Post reported last week.

A good start?

Well, it would be — if the money-losing bookie weren’t also asking to float bonds, to the tune of a whopping quarter-billion dollars, to finance a comeback.

Talk about a losing bet.

Better to send the entire operation off to the great glue factory in the sky.

Indeed, OTB is probably the best argument out there against any government-run gambling operations.

It’s long been a cesspool of patronage — “where good local politicians are sent to max out their pensions,” as one racing exec put it — while feeding the social pathologies attending problem gambling.

And it can’t even turn a profit.

Mayor Bloomberg nearly shut down OTB in the city last year, fearing its losses would soon sap Gotham’s treasury — and prompting a state takeover.

Albany hasn’t fared any better: In September, Gov. Paterson signed an executive order allowing the operation to seek bankruptcy protection.

Now, The Post’s David Seifman reports, OTB may need state backing for its planned $250 million bond issue.

Talk about irresponsible — especially with Albany facing multibillion-dollar deficits as far as the eye can see.

True, closing OTB will still leave taxpayers on the hook for long-term pension costs.

But even that’s better than throwing more good money after bad.

It’s time to put OTB out of its misery.