State Gambling Regulators Ready To Award Upstate Casino Licenses
The state gaming commission in New York made it clear in 2013 that something needed to be done quickly to prevent New York gamblers from crossing state borders and spending their money in out of state casinos. The state gaming commission had received applications from a number of gambling establishments who wanted a crack at establishing a new casino in New York to help the state with the objective of not losing out on gambling revenue to neighboring states.
Those applications to establish casinos in upstate New York have been reviewed by the state gaming commission but so far no licenses have been approved as the review process has gone on for well over a year but no decisions have been made. The lengthy review process has frustrated gambling establishments who were looking to gain early approval and quickly start their construction process.
The state gaming commission recently announced that it would release three upstate casino licenses this week and the beneficiaries would be the Lago Resort and Casino in the Finger Lakes town of Tyre; Rivers Casino and Resort in Schenectady and the Montreign Resort Casino in the Catskills. Once official licenses are granted, these casinos will be able to make necessary arrangements for obtaining finances and will be able to proceed with construction. If the licenses are issued before the end of 2015, these projects will be completed before the end of 2017.
The commission has also received pressure from the counties who are eager for the projects to start as it would provide thousands of employment opportunities to the local community and also bring in more revenue when the casinos go live. One of the county officials from Catskills had earlier written to the state gaming commission asking for an explanation as to why it has taken the commission so long to issue a license. The executive director of the commission Robert Williams had assured the Catskills official that there was no delay and the commission was moving swiftly to approve the licenses.
The state gaming commission also plans to approve a fourth casino license sometime in 2016 and it will be awarded to Tioga Downs who have plans to create a Las Vegas style gambling operation. The project will initially start as a slot parlor and horse racing track located in the Southern Tier.
The gambling climate on the East Coast hasn’t been very hot for the last couple of years as four out of the twelve casinos in Atlantic City have been forced to shutdown during the last two years.
If the decline continues during the next couple of years, these new casinos in New York might find things even more difficult in 2017.
