After a meeting in Manhattan last week, it appears the Gaming Facility Location Board has already made up their mind regarding the potential fourth casino license in the state. Mere weeks after Governor Andrew Cuomo submitted his letter urging the board to take a license into consideration for the struggling Southern Tier, they have decided to re-open the bidding process, but only Southern Tier casino proposals will qualify.
The people of the Southern Tier feel as if they were kicked in the teeth, when only hours after Cuomo put a ban on hydraulic fracturing for natural gas in the region, they were given the news no casino license would be granted in their region. Technically, yes, the Lago Resort and Casino is considered to be in the Southern Tier, yet local officials and residents are quick to tell you the proposed casino is closer to Canada than what they consider their area.
The Southern Tier thought they had a slam dunk with their Tioga Downs proposal, but were shocked to find out the bid failed. Tioga Downs, which opened in 2006, even has experience with a large gaming operator. Jeff Gural, owner of Tioga Downs, and chairman and CEO of American Racing and Entertainment, which owns Tioga Downs, has his work cut out for him.
Gural is upset the board failed to take into consideration the fact he has invested $87 million in American Racing and Entertainment. One of the main selling points for Lago was the project’s massive $425 million in capital investment. At this point, Tioga Downs is the only casino in the region working on a proposal. Even local racino, Traditions Resort and Casino, who also lost a bid, support Tioga Downs, and are even helping them strengthen their proposal.
Gural also wants to see the board’s full report on the 16 applicants from last round. “Until I see what they don’t like about it, it’s hard for me to judge,” he said. “I’m not sure they counted any of the money I’ve already spent.”
One issue for Gural as he looks forward is not being able to use the same proposal from before, as previously thought. “I want to try to do what they want,” Gural said. “But I thought I had a good proposal to begin with.” The initial proposal was for a $34 million casino expansion, in addition to a $22 million hotel, $22 million amenities building, $10 million in site development, and a $3 million renovation to Tioga Country Club.
Las Vegas-based Union Gaming Analytics claim there are only 542,000 people living within 60 minutes of Tioga Downs, of which only 133,000 are adult gamblers. Other casino bids in the region are expected to come forward, but at this point, everything is mere speculation.
Some areas, specifically Orange County, are wondering why the fourth bid is automatically going to the Southern Tier, without consideration for other regions. NAACP-NY president Hazel Dukes has accused the Gaming Commission of discrimination, and was quick to point out Southern Tier as heavily white populated. He was hoping the Newburgh area, also struggling, would get consideration.
In a letter to Gaming Commission chairman Mark Gearan and site selection board chairman Kevin Law, Duke stated, “I am alarmed by your decision to exclude the Newburgh area, a community that is 80 percent African American and Latino, from participation in the competition for the fourth casino gaming license. It is in unjust and I am concerned that it may violate civil rights laws.”
Duke went on to say the decision “harkens back to the days of separate and unequal that the NAACP fought so hard to eliminate.” One of the failed bids from the Newburgh area was by Greenetrack, who has ties to Al Sharpton’s National Action Network. Greenetrack CEO Luther Winn Jr. is on the NAN’s board of directors. Their chief lobbyist, Charlie King, was formerly the executive director of NAN. A statement released last week by Greenetrack stated they are keeping all options open, which includes a “legal challenge”.
Orange County, in fact, attracted interest from a half-dozen bidders, which included some of the biggest operators in gaming. Unfortunately, even that was not enough to be granted a single license.
Many are citing nepotism and political power as a hurdle possibly to high to overcome. A few areas, including Newburgh feel it’s tough to compete against a region, which has received all the support of the governor.
Gaming Facility Location Board member Dennis Glazer said, “Hopefully, there will be multiple bids to choose from.” He added, “But it should be made clear that a recommendation of no additional licenses is a possibility.”
