Part of what I am trying to do with this blog, in addition to linking you, the reader, with ongoing and relevant links to news concerning New York Gaming, is to gain some perspective on the larger trends. In my earlier posts, I marveled at the apparently unimpeded Cuomo Juggernaut driving towards legalized gaming. Well, here we are a couple of weeks into it and still there does not seem to be much resistance at all. Most newspapers still seem to be much more concerned with NYRA’s apparent lack of fiscal control then they are with the advent of Casino Gaming, potentially all over the State.
The proposed Constitutional Amendment seems to have no restrictions at all as to number and locations of Casinos, only that they be “regulated by the State.” That, my friends, can mean anything.
Gaming is producing great revenue for New York, the people like to gamble, and the only problem is can we save NYRA from itself.
Owner of Yonkers Raceway Sees Benefits to NY Tracks
Tim Rooney Jr., general counsel for Yonkers Raceway and Empire City said that “We think that the addition of the gaming and poker games and blackjack would really put us in a position where no one would have to go to the Connecticut casinos or to the New Jersey casinos and we’d be able to offer everything they have.” He also predicted that this change will also prompt a greater investment in the facilities at Yonkers.
And it did not take long for the hopes of legalized gaming to stir the plans of the folks in the Catskills either. The Saugerties Times, a small Hudson Valley newspaper reports that the Court appointed Receiver for the former Neville Hotel is considering the sale of the 433-room hotel on 500 acres to Claremont Investments LLC, a New York-based investment group to be developed as a Casino in the event of legalization within five years.
The New York Post applauded State Controller DiNapoli for warning NYRA against its ongoing losses.
A sentiment shared by the Albany Times Union.
In other news regarding NYRA, Timothy McGinn, a former vice chairman and board member of the New York Racing Association, was charged with fraud on Thursday in an indictment released by prosecutors for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Albany, New York, relating to the operation of his brokerage firm in Albany, New York.
The Journal News of the Lower Hudson Valley, however, is not supportive of Gov. Cuomo’s quest for Casino Gaming. However, Phil Reisman of the Journal did concede the apparent inevitability of casino gaming in New York. In the recent editorial, Mr. Reisman stated that:
But critics say the governor’s glib appraisal masks the dark consequences of gambling — that it brings financial ruin to the lives of countless people, most of whom are desperately poor, often elderly and on fixed incomes. Gambling may add to state coffers, the critics acknowledge, but on the other side of the social equation is an increase in crime, suicide, home foreclosure, divorce, domestic violence and bankruptcy.
However, he did note that the Casino Juggernaut will probably go through regardless.
Like most big ideas, the devil is in the details. But there are three reasons why Cuomo will get his way.
First, the economy is rotten and that is a major selling point.
Second, the gambling industry will pour millions of dollars into advertising and lobbying campaigns.
And third, the public wants casino gambling and will likely vote to change the state constitution to make it happen.
In other New York Gaming News, the State Lottery and Racinos have been showing increased revenue during our Great Recession.
“Sales of traditional lottery games — such as the multistate Powerball and Mega Millions — increased by 2 percent, or by about $73.3 million, between 2010 and 2011. But the largest increase in revenue came from the state’s nine racetracks, which continue to produce record numbers. Jackpots, like Wednesday’s $170 million Powerball game, help generate interest in state-sponsored gambling.”
In Massachusetts, some are just beginning to understand that even after the State blesses the concept of an Indian Gaming Facility within the State, it is a long way from opening the doors.
And even then, others want to stop the Native participation before it begins. KG Urban Enterprises, a developer with sights on a casino in New Bedford argued recently in US District Court that the state’s new casino law gives an unconstitutional advantage to the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian tribe in its pursuit of a gambling resort in Southeastern Massachusetts.
And proving that nothing is every easy for government, even if your are an Indian Tribe, the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe has recently closed what they have described as an unauthorized Casino on the Territory. On January 20, 2012, the Saint Regis Tribal Gaming Commission issued a cease and desist letter to the Three Feathers Casino. It is unclear whether that Casino did indeed close.
Three Feathers claims to have a 55,000-square-foot facility, with 400 electronic gambling machines. It was being operated by Kanienkehaka Kaianerehkowa Kanonhsesne , translated as the Men’s Council of People of the Way of the Longhouse. This group claims to be People of the Longhouse who follow the traditional Haudenosaunee and do not accept the elected leadership Three Chief Government at St. Regis. The Haudenosaunee would be the traditional Iroquois Confederacy of the Six Nations.
In other news, The Post reported that the New York State Racing and Wagering Board this week adopted a rule that all jockeys must take a breathalyzer test the day they ride, and won’t be allowed to ride if the test measures a blood-alcohol content of .05 or higher.
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