Accomplishment of Proposal for additional casinos by Cuomo depends his control of influence

2025-06-17

ALBANY —The condition of Mr. Andrew M. Cuomo- the Governor of New York City would be like a gambler who has to lay a wager in three parts in case he has to turn his dream of full-blown casino gambling in the city into reality.  

The foremost part of the wager will be to convince the government which is divided by local antagonism and is pressurized due to opposing gambling curiosities of different groups.  The governor will plead his case in front of the government so as to position a plan on the opinion poll to approve these types of casinos. There are only countable days left for the parliament to get suspended for the complete year on Thursday. If it happens, Mr. Cuomo will have to convince the voters of the state to authorize the proposal most probably in November. At present, these voters are also divided over the issue of casinos. The third and final step lies in winning over the casino companies to pour huge amounts of money in upstate New York. But according to some forecasters and developers in the relevant industry it is again a difficult task as this area is considered to be uncertain as far as casinos are concerned.

But it appears that the passion for casino gambling of the governor has not been blunted by any of these confrontations. He supports this campaign as a valiant step in producing jobs and tourism in the financially miserable areas of the region. By doing this, he is dealing with the serious issue of unemployment which has been steadfast in the minds of leaders of New York from centuries unknown. 

In a statement given during revelation of his casino proposal in May, the Democrat Mr. Cuomo stated that we should make unique efforts if we wish our future to be different from our present. He added that it is a grand proposal which is supposed to rejuvenate the upstate New York on financial grounds which is very much required by it. 

At present, there are five complete casinos in the New York which are operated by Indian Tribes upstate. Apart from this, partial electronic gambling is also permitted in the state at nine racetracks including Yonkers Raceway and Aqueduct Racetrack. The two racetracks are quite flourishing.  Now Mr. Cuomo wishes that the parliament must request the voters to permit at least seven complete, non-tribal casinos. But he added that only some casinos will be operational for the first few years in the upstate only.

Sudden large amount of spending by the gambling industry has been ignited by the hope of prolonged gambling in New York. There was an expenditure of $17.8 million on reception area and political donations in the years 2025 and 2025. As per an investigation by Common Cause, it is a 36% increase from the earlier two years. 
However, all this money is not used to sponsor the prolonged gambling. Around 10 million dollars were spent by the operators of slot parlors at nine racetracks in Albany. These groups are looking forward to get the casino licenses themselves or to stop other operators to obtain the same.     
As per statement during the last week given by the New York State Gaming Association which symbolizes the racetrack slot parlors, it will not support the law of the governor. However, discussions kept on going and at the end of the week a fresh turn came around, thereby the governor planned to permit additional slot parlor operators in New York City, in case a casino proposal didn’t work out.

 Melissa DeRosa, a lady representative of the governor stated that in the absence of authorization of upstate casinos, additional slot parlors in the city will be able to counterbalance the loss of income to nearby states and assure new funds for their schools. However, setting up of additional slot parlors will be a source of more antagonism because none of the racinos can be assured dominion for a complete life.  She added that they were selected to do something which is beneficial for the people and not in the interest of politically linked racino possessors.

The outline of prolonged gambling has been employed by Mr. Cuomo by now to locate more income for the state by negotiating three latest agreements with Indian tribes to sort out contract disagreements and other problems. The latest agreement with the Seneca Nation will pour in hundreds of millions of dollars in the state from the tribes in lieu of zonal distinction.

In case the proposal for casinos is put on the opinion poll by the parliament, then the agreement over casinos seems to become even more intricate. Numerous players at the state & national level appear to get engaged in any casino proposal conflict. It is also uncertain about the extent of promotional movement that would congregate in antagonism to the prolonged casino gambling.

It is noteworthy that Mr. Cuomo could not accomplish his proposal to construct a conference and stretched gambling complex worth $4 billion in Queens. That is why he is so enthusiastic to strike a deal in the current year. As per his statement given on Friday, he will think over granting four casino licenses upstate which is an increase from his preliminary three casinos’ plan so as to pacify the policy makers from the Catskills. It is an ex-resort zone which has a miserable economic condition. Few hours following transfer of the governor, a statement was given by the chairman of the Senate Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wagering and Hudson Valley Republican named John J. Bonacic who favored five casinos instead of four.

Even if the prolonged casino gambling is authorized by the parliament and by the voters, the number of casinos to be backed financially and continue to exist in the areas of upstate which are not so colonized, is still dubious. As per statement given by Mr. Cuomo, he envisages resort gaming sites to be full flourishing with shops, four-star restaurants, hotels and amusement places in the upstate. Presently, casinos will be permitted by him in the three areas which are the Catskills, Albany area and the south-central area which lies with the periphery of Pennsylvania. Out of these three, the area which has most attracted the casino developers is the Catskills. One of such casino developers was The Mashantucket Pequot Indians who has Foxwoods casino resort and proclaimed his wish to construct a casino resort worth $500 million in Liberty, N. Y. 

The idealists include Emanuel R. Pearlman- the chairman of Empire Resorts Inc. by which a slot parlor is run at a distance of 90 miles northwest of Manhattan at the Monticello Raceway. As per statement given by Mr. Pearlman, his company has got an original authorization to construct a resort that would incorporate a new racetrack, a water park and an expected casino. It is to be noted that his company has links with the Malaysian family that regulates Genting- the Mega casino company. He added that they are optimistic that it will prove to be a mode of encouragement for redevelopment of the Catskills.

The administrators from the leading casino company in the world of gambling i.e. Caesars Entertainment travelled around the cities of upstate and are fascinated by some sites outside the Catskills. Contrary to this, other casino companies that focus on constructing all-encompassing gambling edifices such as Las Vegas Sands, Wynn Resorts and MGM Resorts claim that they are fascinated by locations in or around New York City for construction of casinos. An additional associate professor of economics at Boston College – Rev. Richard McGowan, who is engaged in the work of writing topics related to gambling industry, stated that money can be earned from tourist locations only.

To this, Mr. Cuomo debated that tens of thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of money can be produced by the upstate casinos. However, the president of Gaming USA Corporation- Alan R. Woinski by whom the circular of gambling industry are printed stated that people can’t be forced to pour in billion and a half or two billion dollars in the upstate. The reason being, they can’t get back profits on this money.

The issue of probable casino dispersion in the Northeast which is full of several gambling locations was noted by Mr. Woinski along with other relevant forecasters. There has been decrease in the incomes of the casinos little by little in Connecticut and Atlantic City due to multiplicity of lawful gambling in the area. Similarly, 12 casinos in Pennsylvania have suffered loss in income returns at the hands of the Yonkers and Aqueduct slot parlors and due to the presence of fresh casinos in Maryland & Ohio. In Massachusetts also, craps, roulette and slots are facing similar revenue declines which is the stage of issuing licenses to three casinos.

Financial support for Education will be included in any of the proposal movements. It is asserted by the racinos that they will face difficulty in struggling with the fresh casinos which are expected to pay a 25% tax rate as advised by Mr. Cuomo. It is noteworthy that at present the racinos are paying a tax rate from which over 60% is put aside for education.  Consequently, lesser amount of money will be produced for education. But the government argues that extra income will be generated as per their proposal.

It was exhibited by a Quinnipiac election during start of the month that 48% of voters voted in favor of modifying the legislation to permit prolonged casino gambling. But there were lesser votes in favor of this proposal in the New York City which creates a problem for supporters of the prolonged gambling. The reason is that the race of mayor in the New York implies that profit returns in the city will be more during the current year as compared to other parts of the state.