A strong Democrat within the New York State Senate stated this week that Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) stays evasive to laws that may expedite issuing the three downstate on line casino licenses the legislature licensed in 2013.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul stays uncommitted to signing laws that may pace up the issuing of downstate on line casino licenses. A high Democrat in Albany is asking her to rethink that place. (Picture: The New York Occasions)
The 2013 gaming invoice created 4 upstate and three downstate licenses for slot machines and dwell seller desk video games. Sports activities betting has since been included within the gaming privileges.
The on line casino bundle got here with a 10-year moratorium on the downstate licenses being issued. The delay was designed to present the upstate properties time to solidify their buyer bases with out downstate competitors.
The three downstate licenses are coveted alternatives, with the biggest on line casino operators prepping bids. The resort developments, every with an upfront $500 million licensing payment, are anticipated to offer the state with important tax income amid a shrinking taxpayer base and a determined want to offer funding for main public transportation infrastructure upgrades.
Governor Dragging Course of
State Sen. Joe Addabbo (D-Queens), who chairs his chamber’s Racing, Gaming, and Wagering Committee, sponsored laws earlier this 12 months to hurry up the downstate on line casino licensing course of. The measure, which he championed with Assemblyman Gary Pretlow (D-Mount Vernon), sought to require that bids be submitted to the New York Gaming Facility Location Board by August 31 — far prior to the board’s present deadline of June 27, 2025.
August 31 has come and gone, and Addabbo and Pretlow’s invoice, which handed the Meeting and Senate in June, stays stalled. The lawmakers haven’t forwarded the gaming measure to Hochul as a result of it’s believed the governor will veto it.
Addabbo instructed Spectrum News this week that he stays hopeful that Hochul will change her thoughts and understand that rushing up the method is within the state’s finest curiosity. Together with producing a direct inflow of $1.5 billion for the state, important cash that might come within the aftermath of Hochul folding on the “congestion toll” that may have jacked up tolls into Manhattan, Addabbo says the casinos will create 1000’s of jobs.
These are nice union jobs. We’re speaking about every web site having at the least a thousand building jobs. Submit-construction, every of them [will have] 2,500,” Addabbo stated.
Eleven bids stay for the three licenses. Although nothing is about in stone, it’s broadly believed that two licenses are already spoken for with MGM Resorts’ Empire Metropolis On line casino in Yonkers and Genting’s Resorts World New York Metropolis in Queens. These racinos at present supply slot-like video lottery terminals and digital desk video games.
Present Timeline
Until Hochul reverses course to get on Addabbo and Pretlow’s timeline for the downstate casinos, the Gaming Facility Location Board expects to render its winners by Dec. 1, 2025.
Together with MGM and Genting, notable on line casino firms getting ready submissions embody Caesars Leisure in Occasions Sq., Wynn Resorts in Hudson Yards, and Las Vegas Sands on Lengthy Island.
Onerous Rock is partnered with billionaire Steve Cohen on a proposal for an built-in resort on the New York Mets’ Citi Discipline in Queens. Mohegan is creating a scheme on the East Facet close to the United Nations Headquarters. Bally’s is pitching a on line casino at its golf course within the Bronx and a consortium led by the Chickasaw Nation has developed a bid for Coney Island.