Genting Malaysia is expanding its Resorts World New York City property in Queens. The development goes beyond bricks and mortar. Genting also added staff and opened a new Hyatt Regency Hotel. It’s part of a plan to make Genting a stronger candidate for one of three full casino licenses in the New York City area.
James Koh, senior vice president of finance and corporate affairs, and Audrey Ng, assistant manager of corporate affairs, spoke about those plans in a CGS-CIMB Research corporate day, according to local financial news site, The Edge.
The New York State Gaming Commission anticipates sending a report to the governor and state legislature in June, followed by a request for applications, according to Asia Gaming Brief.
Genting plans to add Resorts World Hudson Valley in Orange County sometime this year. The company will convert a shopping mall into a venue with 1,300 video gaming machines for as much as $40 million.
Gross gambling revenue for Resorts World NYC in the three months through November was $222 million, up 2 percent from the same period pre-Covid in 2019. It had 6,447 operational machines, close to the maximum capacity of 6,500.
In related news, Governor Kathy Hochul included casino gambling in the New York City area in her $216.3 billion budget proposal.
The record-breaking budget permits the state Gaming Facility Location Board to issue a request for applications to open three new casino resorts, according to the New York Post.
“There will be a competition for them,” he said of the available licenses.
Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, chairman of the Standing Committee on Racing and Wagering, hailed Hochul’s plan.
“We can issue licenses this year and raise anywhere from $1 billion to $2 billion in revenues. There will be more jobs and income tax revenues. It’s a win-win-win.”
Casino operator Resorts World said in a statement: “Gaming in downstate New York is full of untapped potential.”
“If granted a full casino license, we are uniquely positioned to immediately elevate our support for the state in a number of significant ways. On day one, we’ll be able to hire and train hundreds of new union members, generate significant additional revenue for public schools, and drive economic activity for local small businesses and the Queens community.”
The proposal accelerates the timeline and scraps the penalties downstate operators will pay to upstate casinos if plans move forward prior to 2023.
MGM Resorts’ Empire City at Yonkers and Genting’s Resorts World Aqueduct would likely be license winners as they already have slot casinos and could be up and running quickly.
The third license up for grabs could be in New York City, Long Island, the Westchester area, Rockland, or Putnam counties.
In other licensing news, the Shinnecock Indian Nation is upping the ante on its proposed casino, trying to win approval to build a Las Vegas-style gaming facility off its Southampton territory.
Tribal leaders were among 31 organizations that responded last month to a request for information from the New York State Gaming Commission to gauge interest in contracts for three Class III gaming facilities—full-fledged casinos with live dealers—that could be awarded next year for the New York City region. The development comes nearly a year after Shinnecock leaders announced their third bid to build a casino on tribal territory in Southampton, albeit a Class II gaming facility that is limited to slot machines and electronic gaming tables, according to the Long Island Press.
“The Shinnecock submitted information on why it should be considered for a commercial, Class III gaming license in the New York Metropolitan area,” Randy King, Shinnecock tribal vice chair, told Dan’s Papers. “We will still continue our push for a modest facility on the East End of Long Island on our territory in Southampton.
The three downstate contracts were among seven for casinos statewide that New Yorkers voted to allow in a 2013 referendum that amended the state constitution to approve non-tribal casinos for the first time. The proposal was largely supported on Long Island with voters approving it by two-thirds of the vote. Fifty-seven percent of voters statewide gave the state the go-ahead.
The Shinnecock, which previously cleared five acres of land to build a casino on tribal land in 2003 and then tried reviving that stalled effort a decade ago after winning federal recognition, is betting the third time’s a charm. With a National Indian Gaming Commission approval in hand, all that stands in the way are environmental approvals for the facility planned on its land.
“We feel that we have all our ducks in a row this time,” Shinnecock Council Chairman Bryan Polite told reporters upon laying down his cards on the casino plan last year.
Dubbed Shinnecock Casino Hamptons, tribal leaders did not reveal how much revenue the casino would generate. The Shinnecock hope to parlay the cash infusion into helping its historically impoverished population. But King noted that the coronavirus pandemic-induced supply chain issues may slow the timeline for construction, which he expects to start this year and is projected to take 18 to 25 months to complete.
“Over the past several years we have witnessed the suffering of the Shinnecock Nation and also seen the opportunity to lift their people from the poverty they currently live in,” Tri-State Partner and Managing Member Jack Morris said during the February 2021 announcement. “This will be a property Long Island residents will enjoy visiting, while enabling the Shinnecock Nation to take advantage of opportunities other members of Native American nations have harnessed.”
But neighbors and local lawmakers have raised concerns a casino in Southampton would worsen gridlock that routinely grinds traffic to a crawl on two-lane Montauk Highway, especially during peak summer tourist season.
King said the tribe has the right to negotiate a facility and to take land into trust and to have property that a gaming facility is constructed on.
“The Cuomo administration refused our pleas to negotiate a gaming compact.”
