NYC is getting its first 3 Las Vegas-style casinos

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Mets baseball stadium in Queens. A Bronx golf course once operated by the president Donald Trump the company. A slot machine parlor on a horse racing track near John F. Kennedy International Airport.

The three disparate sites, located far from the tourist hub of Manhattan, will become the future homes of New York’s first Las Vegas-style resort casinos.

The state Gaming Commission on Monday granted the three projects licenses to operate in the lucrative metro area market, during a meeting at a riverside park in upper Manhattan.

The panel approved the licenses on the condition that the companies each appoint an external monitor who would report regularly to the commission to ensure they are meeting their financial and legal obligations, as well as the promised investments they have made to local communities.

Brian O’Dwyer, chairman of the commission, said the state looks forward to seeing promises of jobs, infrastructure improvements and gaming revenue come to fruition.

“You all have an important task before you, and you can be assured that this commission takes our responsibility to keep our feet to the fire with great respect,” he told the project representatives present.

New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement that the projects would inject billions of dollars into the state’s transportation and education systems and create tens of thousands of jobs.

But a handful of protesters opposed to Mets billionaire Steve Cohen’s Hard Rock project have vowed to take their fight to court. They and other casino opponents fear the plans will only increase gambling addiction.

“You chose a billionaire over New Yorkers! Shame on you!” » the group shouted as they left the meeting.

Cohen and Hard Rock’s proposal calls for a $8.1 billion casino complex on a parking lot next to the Mets’ Citi Field that would include a performance venue, hotel and retail space.

Bally’s proposed a model approximately A 4 billion dollar casino at Ferry Point Golf Course in the Bronx, which would include a hotel, event center, meeting spaces, restaurants and other amenities.

And Resorts World offered to invest more than 5 billion dollars to expand its slots parlor at Aqueduct Race Track in Queens into a full casino with a hotel, restaurants and entertainment options.

The defeated projects several other suggestions who was left out of the high-stakes competition.

Among them were three casinos proposed for Manhattan which were rejected by local boards, including a Caesars Palace in the heart of Times Square supported by rapper Jay-Z. A proposed resort on Brooklyn’s iconic Coney Island boardwalk was also rejected by local opposition, and MGM abruptly withdrew from the once-crowded competition, despite local support.

The state gaming commission was authorized to license up to three casinos in the New York area after voters approved a referendum in 2013, opening the door to casino gaming statewide.

Four complete casinosall in the upstate, now offer table games. The State also manages nine games rooms without live table games, many of them are also miles from Manhattan.

Monday’s decision, in some ways, was largely a formality. Millions of dollars in gaming revenue are already taken into account in the state budget.

A state panel to review the commission’s proposals also recommended licensing the three remaining proposals earlier this month.

The Gaming Facilities Location Council, in his written decisionargued that the region’s dense and relatively affluent population, combined with significant tourism, would be able to support all three plans, despite their relative proximity to each other.

The panel said its consultants conservatively estimated that casinos would generate a total of $7 billion in gambling tax revenue between 2027 and 2036, plus $1.5 billion in licensing fees and nearly $6 billion in state and local taxes.

Monday’s decision also means Trump could claim a substantial award. When Bally’s purchased the operating rights from the municipal utility Ferry Point Golf Course from the Trump Organization in 2023, he agreed to pay a An additional $115 million if he won a casino license.

Spokespeople for the Trump Organization did not respond Monday to an email seeking comment on the expected windfall.

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Follow Philippe Marcelo on https://x.com/philmarcelo