How New York real estate market impacts how casinos get built

One of the last significant untapped gambling markets in the United States and a popular tourist destination with a metro area of about 23 million people, New York City and its real estate market have long been a dream for casino operators. And that dream might come true any time soon.

Up to three casino licenses were approved by Albany's elected officials in April 2022 for downstate New York, which encompasses New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County.

2013 saw the state of New York legalize casinos in the style of Las Vegas for the first time. Four casinos were initially allowed to start upstate by then-governor Andrew Cuomo and the state legislature, giving them time to establish their operations before facing competition from any casinos in the New York City region. 

However, this time around, the approval procedure will take awhile because the stakes are so high. No decisions will be made "until perhaps later in 2023 at the earliest," according to state gambling regulators.

Decision will be made by state’s Gaming Facility Location Board

Vicki Been, Quenia Abreu, and Stuart Rabinowitz have just been appointed to the state's Gaming Facility Location Board, which will oversee the application procedure. Been, a professor at the New York University School of Law, worked as Mayor Bill de Blasio's deputy mayor for housing and economic development. 

Abreu, the president of the New York Women's Chamber of Commerce, formerly concentrated on business development initiatives in Queens' Hunts Point, the South Bronx, and Manhattan's Washington Heights. Former president of Hofstra University on Long Island for 20 years, Rabinowitz is an attorney with Meltzer, Lippe, Goldstein & Breitstone.

The state's Gaming Commission, which will eventually decide which licenses to grant, will get recommendations from the board after it has reviewed the applications. However, the commission has stated that unless there is a concern with the applicant's fitness and character, it will not reject the location board's decision.

The Department of Buildings, which has recently undergone changes in its command when the commissioner resigned, will not be a part of the process.

Local support will be decisive

Strong community opposition can defeat a casino bid before state regulators ever consider it thanks to the way the process is set up. A local Community Advisory Committee will be established for each application to hold public hearings and make a formal determination regarding the level of support the proposed casino has in the local community.

For locations in New York City, the local committees would consist of six people, with one representative chosen by each of the following: the governor, the mayor, the local state senator, the local state assembly member, the borough president, and the local member of the City Council. Before state authorities start reviewing the application, the project must receive the support of at least two-thirds of the committee members.

Mayor Eric Adams’s position on the matter

According to reports by newyorkgambling.org, New York casinos aren’t something new. And Mayor Eric Adams has always spoken positively about the prospects of casinos. He expressed to reporters in March 2022 his desire for two of the casinos to be situated in New York City, calling them a stimulus to the local economy.

The mayor is closely connected to the business. When he was a state senator, he presided over the Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee. He became involved in a scandal when the state elected to place video lottery machines at Queens' Aqueduct Racetrack. He and his coworkers exhibited "exceedingly poor judgment", according to a 2010 state inspector general's investigation, by socializing with lobbyists and accepting campaign donations from individuals connected to the bidders.

This year, The New York Times revealed that Adams had hired one of his close friends, Timothy Pearson, for an extraordinarily well-paying city job while Pearson was also employed at the so-called racino, a horse racetrack with digital games but no human dealers, next to the Aqueduct Racetrack. Pearson and the racino split up shortly after that.

The hotel employees' union, which recently modified its name to include the term "gaming" to become the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council, employs the majority of its members at the Queens racino. A lobbyist for that union co-managed a super PAC that supported Mr. Adams' mayoral campaign.

Mayor Adams supports casinos in New York, but Governor Kathy Hochul says she won't participate in the selection process, despite having the power to have a significant impact. She basically runs the New York State Gaming Commission, which established the committee in charge of approving casino applications.