New York Casinos: Yonkers Mayor Calls on State to Immediately Award Licenses to Racinos

^{Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano is wants casino licenses in New York to be fast-tracked for currently operating racinos. (Photo: ZUMA Press)}

Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano released a statement on Tuesday calling on New York State to award casino licenses to the racetrack casinos at MGM Empire City Casino in Yonkers and Resorts World New York City, allowing the racinos to immediately begin full-scale operations.

Spano made his declaration a day after Wynn Resorts and Related Companies chose to withdraw their bid for a casino in Hudson Yards in Manhattan.

Spano: Casino Licensing Process has ‘Lost Too Much Time’

Empire City – which is located at Yonkers Raceway – and Resorts World New York City – at Aquaduct Racetrack in Queens – have long been considered favorites to pick up two of the three available downstate casino licenses in New York. That’s due to the fact that the facilities have already been in operation as electronic gaming venues for years, and could easily scale up to full casino operation without requiring any immediate construction.

“We have two racinos whose owners are ready to pay the State a billion dollars in application fees today, and to start generating hundreds of millions of dollars in new taxes tomorrow,” Spano said. “We all know that the cutbacks from Washington are going to cause holes in the State and local budgets by the end of the year, so let’s be proactive.”

One of the biggest challenges for many casino projects has been a lack of local support. Wynn cited that issue in its withdrawal from the race, and many other proposals, ranging from a casino at Nassau Coliseum to a Caesars Times Square concept, have been faced with pushback from residents, local institutions, and community boards.

 According to Spano, that’s not an issue for the project in his city.

“New York should move ahead right away with the two proposals that enjoy community support and are shovel-ready to go,” Spano said. “We’ve already lost too much time. Let’s not lose any more.”

Plenty of Competition for Three Downstate Licenses

Spano’s call for immediate action will almost certainly be ignored by state officials, who have already outlined a timeline and process for awarding the three licenses.

First, interested parties must submit their final bids to the New York State Gaming Facility Location Board (GFLB) by June 27, 2005. Community Advisory Committees would then vote on their respective projects by September 30, 2025. 

Any project that earned approval from its local Community Advisory Committees would then submit proposed tax rates and additional application materials to the GFLB, which would make its final decisions by December 1. The New York State Gaming Commission would award licenses to up to three recipients by December 31.

Any decision to unilaterally award licenses to the racinos would completely upend that process. And while those facilities are considered favorites for two of the licenses, there are other strong contenders who would object to being reduced to fighting for just one slot.

Steve Cohen’s Metropolitan Park complex has a fair amount of local support itself, and seems to have put its issues with parkland alienation in the past. The Nassau Coliseum proposal could still have life as the sole option on Long Island, if a new operator can be found to replace Las Vegas Sands. And projects that were seemingly forgotten about, including The Avenir and Freedom Plaza, have regained momentum lately with new announcements that have strengthened their bids.