Resorts World Casino New York City is looking ahead to the prospect of competition in the Big Apple and has launched a public relations blitz to ensure it’s not forgotten in Albany when that time comes.
Resorts World, located at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, is the largest racino in the country, with some 4,000 slots and electronic table games, and it’s been hugely successful since opening eight years ago. But management is concerned about what happens when up to three full-scale casinos open in the city sometime early in the next decade, all with live table games, which currently are prohibited in the metropolitan area.
To make its case, the property has launched a “Good Neighbor Network” with an accompanying television advertising campaign emphasizing its community ties and the economic benefits it has brought to the borough.
The “Good Neighbor Network” is aimed at helping civics and arts groups in Queens elevate their public profiles and raise money. Run by the casino’s director of public relations and community development, Michelle Stoddart, the program gives access to the Resorts World website to dozens of organizations to promote their activities, conduct fund-raising and find volunteers.
“When Resorts World Casino New York City was in development, it made a promise to be a good neighbor to the Queens community, and it has clearly kept that promise,” Tom Grech, president of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, said in statement.
The accompanying ad is slated to air for the next two weeks on cable and broadcast TV in New York City and the surrounding suburbs, as well as Albany.
Resorts World, meanwhile, is lobbying for a new license that will permit live table games and is backing that effort with a $400 million expansion slated for completion next summer that will add 400 hotel rooms, new restaurants and more meetings and conventions space.
Seth Bornstein, executive director of the Queens Economic Development Corp., hailed the investment, saying, “This ambitious development illustrates Resorts World New York City’s long-term commitment to, and belief in, Queens.”
