Governor Andrew Cuomo said talks with gambling giant Genting
to build a casino and convention center at the Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park
"haven't really worked out," and that he's shopping around for
another developer.
"So a few weeks ago we started to bring in other gaming
companies, the nation’s best," said Cuomo. "And, governor, they all
want to come to New York. And they all have all sorts of exciting ideas, ideas
that we didn’t even think of, and these are some of the premier gaming
companies in the world, literally."
He also acknowledged something has been apparent for a long
time: The Genting convention center proposal, which he announced his January 4
State of the State address, was a loss leader that could only be made whole
with gambling.
Now, the governor said, "I’m thinking now the best way
to go forward is to have a competition next year when we get the casino
legislation passed. We were talking about doing a competition for casino
developers, make the convention center-slash-casino development one
competition, let’s get the best ideas, the best offers from the best companies
on the globe and then we’ll make a decision."
Director of State Operations, Howard Glazer stated that: the
clearest way forward appears to be a single international competition once the
fate of the casino legislation and referendum has been determined.
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/politics/2012/06/6007062/cuomo-says-aqueduct-talks-gambling-giant-genting-havent-really-work
Fred Dicker of the Post reports that:
A Who’s Who of big-name Las Vegas gambling companies is
lining up to replace the Genting company as builder/operator of a huge new
convention center/megacasino complex in New York City, The Post has learned.
Over the last three
months, top officials from Sands Las Vegas, Caesars Entertainment and MGM
Resorts have all told Howard Glaser, Gov. Cuomo’s state operations director, or
other top Cuomo aides that they’re interested in replacing Genting.
Among top corporate representatives who spoke with Cuomo’s
aides about the project were Sands board Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson,
Sands VP Andy Abboud, Caesars VP Jan Jones and MGM Resorts VP Alan Feldman,
according to the source.
THEN, IT TURNS OUT GENTING GOT BIG $ TO CUOMO………..
The New York Times Reported that Genting was a big
contributor to Gov. CuomoA lobbying group controlled by Genting Bhd. and other gambling interests donated $2 million to a powerful committee that backs New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo at around the same time that the governor announced he would push to legalize casinos.
The New York Gaming Association made the donation in early
December to the Committee to Save New York, a business and trade union group
that has spent $12 million to support Mr. Cuomo's agenda—more than any other
lobbying group in the state. Around the same time, the committee began backing
a constitutional amendment to legalize casino gambling.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/05/nyregion/gambling-interests-gave-cuomo-ally-millions.html?_r=1
However, both the Committee to Save New York and the
governor's office insist the donation had nothing to do with Cuomo's sudden
support for casino gambling. “We are proud of our track record, and if there
are people who felt they were getting something more for contributing to
C.S.N.Y., then they are simply wrong," said a representative from the
committee.
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/06/gambling-group-donated-to-cuomo-group.html?mid=rss
The Governor stated that said he walked away from his
planned union with Genting for what the governor had been touting as North
America's biggest convention center. He said he could not tolerate Genting's
demands and did not want to be party to backroom deals. Talks could restart in
late 2013, he suggested, after the conclusion of a series of envisioned casino
expansion votes.
"The current racinos say the selection should be
limited to the current racinos," Cuomo said. "I'm 100 percent opposed
to that. I believe it should be an open competition." He didn't explain
exactly why he views the current racino structure as scandalous, but suggested
that taxpayers are not getting a fair return for giving each track the rights
to set up VLTs.
Cuomo said that casino siting decisions should be based on
the best location, best operator and best deal for the state. He'd like to see
geographic balance, and didn't rule out locations in western New York — even
though the Seneca Indian Nation argues that it holds exclusivity rights in the
region. He did, however, say he disliked Manhattan as a potential site.
http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Cuomo-calls-racinos-a-scandal-3608897.php#ixzz1yAo8zrXk
THEN, THAT GENTING GOT AN EARLY OPPORTUNITY TO PITCH THE
DEAL………..
It was later reported that senior Genting executives put
forth the idea for the convention center at a fund-raiser in October at the
Westchester estate of Barry Gosin, a commercial property broker. The event was
attended by real estate and gambling executives. A few weeks after the fund-raiser, the
gambling association, of which Genting is a member, contributed the $2 million
to the Committee to Save New York, the private lobbying group that Mr. Cuomo
pushed to be set up.
The Shinnecock Nation Tribal Trustees took exception to Gov.
Andrew Cuomo's remarks this week that it would be "unrealistic" to
open talks now regarding an Indian casino on Long Island.
In a statement Tuesday, the Trustees say the Shinnecocks
"are a tribal nation, not a competitor or a gaming corporation with no
community ties, seeking only to enrich itself," and they should not have
to wait to get a seat at the table.
NOW WE ARE FINDING THAT NOT EVERYONE WANTS A CASINO
The Albany Times-Union reports that a poll shows weak
support for the constitutional amendment to allow gaming in New York. The
Benenson Group talked to 800 New York registered voters last month and found
that 50 percent would vote for a constitutional amendment to allow commercial
gambling and 47 percent would not — but supporters are willing to be talked out
of their position. The early, narrow support indicates the measure may be too
weak to win, according to Joel Benenson, a former political aide to Gov. Mario
Cuomo.And the Anti-Gaming Lobby, having not truly existed and thus caught unprepared for this last winter’s drama, is starting to organize.
The anti-gambling coalition already has its eye on 2013, the
soonest the second vote by the Legislature and one by the public could take
place.
The group — the Coalition Against Gambling in New York — met
with state legislators Monday, hoping to connect with incumbents running for
re-election who would again have to vote on the casino Amendment next year.
“We feel that it’s not too soon to begin laying the
groundwork for a fight next year,” said Joel Rose, chairman of the
Buffalo-based group. “Most of the legislators who are here now will be back
then, and we’ll be talking to people who are candidates, also. This is not
going to be the end of our efforts. This is really the beginning of our efforts
on this amendment.”
The coalition distributed a series of position papers on the
amendment, opposing it for a variety of reasons. The economic development
benefits of casinos are overrated, and legalizing any form of gambling raises
“moral questions” about “the state raising revenue at the expense of the most
vulnerable,” it wrote.
“We’re opposed to gambling because of the human destruction
that it brings,” said Rev. Duane Motley, senior lobbyist for New Yorkers for
Constitutional Freedoms, which is based in Monroe County. “Gambling does not
produce economic stimulus that the government likes to paint that it will.”
http://www.lohud.com/article/20120522/NEWS05/305220088/Anti-gambling-group-targets-amendment?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CNews%7Cs&nclick_check=1
Nevele Grande purchase finalized
Nevele Investors LLC has finalized the purchase of the famed
Nevele Grande Hotel and Country Club in Wawarsing with a closing on the property.
The investment group hopes to develop casino gaming at the
facility. It is expected the state will
approve it in about a year-and-a-half. Should that come to pass, the new owners
anticipate up to a $500 million in redevelopment and employ up to 1,000 people,
said Michael Treanor, CEO of Nevele Investors LLC. The group paid $2 million
and assumed $20 million in debt.
http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2012/April/28/Nevele_pur-28Apr12.html
OTHER GAMING NEWS
The U.S. casino industry continued to show a modest recovery
from the recession in 2011 as gaming revenues increased 3 percent nationwide,
but downtown Las Vegas and Reno continued their slide down the list of the
nation's top gaming markets.
The report covers only commercial casinos and excludes those
of American Indian tribes. The survey looks at how the casino industry was
affected last year through national and state economic data and public opinion
surveys.
The gaming association's survey found commercial casinos in
22 states collected $35.64 billion in gross gaming revenues in 2011, a 3
percent increase from $34.6 billion in 2010. The industry collected $30.74
billion in 2009.
Interestingly, Atlantic City has not been benefiting from
the upswing in revenue. Pennsylvania’s
decision to legalize casino table games back in 2010 has really paid off. A new
economic report by the American Gaming Association says the state’s gambling
industry had one of the largest hikes in revenues in the United States last
year. But just as it is at the poker table, for every big state casino industry
win there is also a loss. With its business undercut by new casinos in
neighboring states, New Jersey saw the greatest revenue drop in the country
between 2010 and 2011 — a 7 percent decrease.
http://www.thirteen.org/metrofocus/2012/05/craps-atlantic-city-lost-big-bucks-last-year/
The legalization of Internet wagers cleared the state
Assembly’s gambling committee, as lawmakers race to make New Jersey the first
state that allows Internet betting.
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/breaking/new-jersey-assembly-panel-approves-online-gambling-bill/article_7fd470c2-9abe-11e1-93ef-0019bb2963f4.html
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