Count mega-budget offerings from Genting Group and Caesars Entertainment among the marquee-name dismissals in the New York Gaming Facility Location Board‘s final 
cut of casino applicants. Also going into the circular file were a second Genting project (Resorts World Hudson Valley), along with a Penn National Gaming/Cordish Gaming joint venture, and proposals from Full House Resorts, Churchill Downs, Mohegan Sun and a Hard Rock-branded project (right). It was a bad day from brand names, who generally got swept from the board. Considering Mohegan Sun CEO Mitchell Etess‘ family’s decades-long connection to the Catskills, that rejection must have been especially painful.
Orange County went 0-for-six, as site-choosers feared a casino there would have a deleterious effect on any located further west in the Catskills. Instead, the board opted for Genting sibling Empire Resorts‘ proposal (2,150 slots, 61 tables, 391 hotel rooms) for Sullivan County, $630 million Montreign Casino Resort, near its existing Monticello Casino & Raceway … so it wasn’t a total loss for Kien Huat Realty, which also dominates Genting ownership. (Mohegan Sun had been moving dirt back and forth on its site, in a last-minute attempt to show the board it was ‘shovel ready.’)
Despite having a mandate to award four casino sites, the location board chose but three. Said Chairman Kevin Law, “We have sought to select those proposals that would maximize 
prospects for sustained success and be in the best overall position for the state of New York.” The remaining two were a $300 million Schenectady proposal from Neil Bluhm‘s Rush Street Gaming (1,150 slots, 66 tables and 150 rooms) and, in the Finger Lakes region, $425 million Lago Resort & Casino (85 tables, 2,000 slots), a project of local developer Wilmorite Inc. A second proposal by Bluhm (left), for Newburgh, was among the also-rans.
Racino owners openly fumed. “The board’s actions are a slap in the face to both the Southern Tier and Central New York residents,” raged Vernon Downs‘ Gary Greenberg. Added Jeff Gural, who wanted to upgrade Tioga Downs to a full casino, “I feel sorry for the people of Oneida County. The state gave the Oneidas [Indians] exclusivity rights. Then they put two casinos on either side of them.”
Saratoga Casino & Raceway sent a mixed message on the impact of the Schenectady casino. “I expect that it will have a significant impact on [Saratoga] casino operations and will ultimately result in some significant downsizing. I do not expect it to have an affect on harness racing,” said Secretary James Featherstonhaugh. Besides, Bluhm will have to 
make “supplementation” of any future shortfalls in Saratoga harness-racing purses. The track is cancelling a planned concert hall but proceeding with a hotel/spa.
Board member Charles Wait cited the romance of the Sport of Kings, “Fortunately for Saratoga, the entertainment at our racetrack is as much about the sport as it is about the gambling. Also, we have had a casino next to us at the harness track and that casino has not hurt thoroughbred racing. I think the negative impact will be most heavily felt by the racino.” Some argued that, with the right marketing, the thoroughbred meet might benefit from Bluhm’s proximity. Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce President Todd Shimkus warned, “Complacency is a disaster we have to avoid. We can’t just continue giving people the things we have now.”
Citing a slowdown in national gaming-revenue growth from 5% to 1% over the 2012-13 period, Bloomberg News cast doubt on the casinos-to-be’s ability to achieve the burden of economic revival placed upon them by Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D). With 14 casinos, racinos and slot parlors already, New York is not exactly starved for gambling. The three winning bidders forecast $302 million, $222.5 million and $282 million in gaming revenues, respectively, in 2019. Between them, they predict they’ll deliver $265 million in taxes to the state.
