METRO EXCLUSIVE
Hochul accused of rigging NY casino license plan in favor of politically-connected slot parlors
By Carl Campanile
October 16, 2022 | 6:36pm
Gov. Kathy Hochul could be giving two slot parlors with political connections an advantage in getting full downstate casino licenses.
Robert Miller
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul could be giving two politically-connected slot parlors — including one whose lobbyists donated to her campaign — a leg up over competitors to win awards for full casino licenses downstate, sources told The Post.
Critics charge the process was rigged in favor of the Aqueduct and Yonkers race tracks through language inserted into the state budget by Hochul and approved by the Democratic-run legislature.
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The language gives the two “racinos”– Genting NY-Resorts World at Aqueduct and MGM-Empire City Yonkers — credit for having existing infrastructure as part of the criteria in Albany selecting operators for up to three licenses to offer table games.
Lobbying firms or lobbyists for Genting NY-Resorts World have donated more than $50,000 to Hochul’s campaign committee/Friends for Kathy Hochul — notably $25,000 from lobbyist John Cordo in August and $15,250 from Patrick Jenkins over the past year, state Board of Election records show.
Genting-NY at Aqueduct itself has donated $2 million to politicians and political parties across the spectrum over the past decade and has spent millions more lobbying the executive and legislative branches.
Each gaming operator is expected to deliver the state a $500 million upfront for the privilege of obtaining a casino license.
The state budget may give Genting NY-Resorts World at Aqueduct and MGM-Empire City Yonkers a leg up on competitors because they have existing infrastructure.
The state may give Genting NY-Resorts World at Aqueduct and MGM-Empire City Yonkers a leg up on competitors because they have existing infrastructure.
Stephen Yang
The site selection process laid out for casino licenses was among the mega-deals in the budget that also included the controversial $850 million taxpayer subsidy to build a new Buffalo Bills stadium and nearly $1 billion in slush funds that the governor is sprinkling around the state as she seeks re-election.
Charges of the favored language for the racinos come on the heels of Hochul being accused of pay-to-play schemes with donors — including a firm that won a $637 million no-bid contract to provide COVID tests kits while its founder and associates delivered nearly $333,000 in donations to her campaign.
The key line in the law says that the casino siting board “may consider private capital investment made previous” to its enactment — investments and assets that only Genting-NY at Aqueduct and MGM- Empire City Yonkers already have in place in the metro-region. Both have run their slots parlors for more than a decade.
Genting, for example, also has opened a hotel to serve a fully-licensed casino.
Lobbying firms or lobbyists for Genting NY-Resorts World have donated over $50,000 to Hochul’s campaign committee or Friends for Kathy Hochul.
Lobbying firms or lobbyists for Genting NY-Resorts World have donated over $50,000 to Hochul’s campaign committee or Friends for Kathy Hochul.
G.N.Miller/NYPost
The language in the law says the minimum investment “may include a casino area.”
Other casino operators vying for a license — including Wynn Resorts, Hard Rock and Sands — would have to build new facilities from scratch.
Critics said the language smacks of crony favoritism.
“It’s highly problematic. It does feel like the fix is in,” said Jason McGuire, president of the New Yorker’s Family Research Foundation, which has opposed gambling expansion in New York.
“This is not new economic development. It’s a retroactive investment. It’s unfair to other bidders.”
An Albany whistleblower who spotted the casino item buried in the budget said it seemed that Hochul “was far more concerned about inserting language to rig the bidding process in favor of casino operators who fill campaign coffers, rather than focus on COVID recovery or ridding our streets of criminals.”
A source close to a rival bidder called the budget language “hilarious” — and a clear nod favoring the racetrack slots parlors.
According to the state budget, the casino sitiing board “may consider private capital investment made previous” to the enactment of the law.
According to the state budget, the casino sitiing board “may consider private capital investment made previous” to the enactment of the law.
Stephen Yang
The bidding and selection process for the new casino licenses will be made by a state-siting board — the Gaming Facility Location Board — overseen by the Hochul-controlled state Gaming Commission.
Hochul, through a spokesperson, insisted she wasn’t rigging the bidding process and that her office had used language previously adopted by her predecessor, Andrew Gov. Cuomo regarding site selection of upstate casinos.
“The FY23 enacted budget sets out a fair, competitive and transparent statewide process wherein siting decisions are made by the independent Gaming Facility Location Board,” said Hochul spokesman Avi Small. “As part of the statewide site selection process for casinos, legislative language was included to allow the Board to consider prior capital investment in determining the minimum capital investment amount, just as was included in the 2014 and 2015 casino siting process.”
But a source familiar with prior budget negotiations when Cuomo was governor disputed Hochul’s portrayal of her predecessor’s position.
“That language [from 2014-2015] was added by the legislature and the upstate completion was completely different. Here, for three years the legislature wanted to award downstate licenses and wanted Genting and MGM to get two out of the three, but Cuomo wouldn’t do it,” the source said.
Both of the racinos, as it turns out, have powerful political benefactors pushing their case for a full casino license.
MGM-Empire City borders the districts of Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) and Assemblyman Gary Pretlow (D-Mount Vernon), who chairs the committee overseeing casinos.
Genting-NY vowed to double its workforce at Aqueduct if it wins a casino license.
Genting-NY vowed to double its workforce at Aqueduct if it wins a casino license.
Edmund J Coppa
“Of course I’m going to support my hometown casino, which by the way, has done the work,” Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) said in February.
Genting-NY is in the district of Senate Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee chairman Joseph Addabbo. Jenkins, one of its lobbyists, also has deep ties to the Queens Democratic Party leader Gregory Meeks and is a college pal of Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx).
Addabbo claimed credit for having Hochul insert language into the budget to aid the Aqueduct slots parlor.
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“Why shouldn’t Resorts World be given acknowledgement for the investments they already made? One of the things we’ve been talking about in Albany is speed to market.
Speed to market should be a consideration,” Addabbo said.
New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams sent a letter to the Gaming Commission last year backing Genting’s bid for an expanded casino license.
Genting-NY vowed to double its workforce at Aqueduct if it wins a casino license and noted its track record of generating billions of dollars in revenue for the state to fund education.
“As a partner with New York for more than a decade and its largest taxpayer, we share a commitment to creating good-paying union jobs and producing much-needed revenue for the state, especially given the current economic challenges that many New Yorkers face,” a spokesman for Genting-Resorts World said through a spokesman.
“We look forward to putting a proposal forward that builds on our proven track record of providing thousands of union jobs, supporting local small businesses and community non-profits, and generating more than $3 billion for New York’s public schools. If granted a full casino license, we will more than double our union workforce at our world-class Queens property and continue to elevate our unparalleled support for New York.”
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In betting circles, many believe the track slot parlors operators would win at least one — if not two — of the downstate casino licenses up for grabs, because of their proven track record of generating revenues for the state — in essence, becoming an arm of the New York Lottery Division, sources said. Both firms have been vetted and employ hundreds of workers.
The prospect of bidding for a potential casino license in tourist magnet Manhattan has gaming operators salivating.
Other casino interests have showered Hochul with campaign contributions. As previously reported, brass with Hard Rock organized a fundraiser for Hochul and raised more than $100,000 in contributions from its associates and Marc Holliday, chairman and CEO of real estate giant SL Green, which is looking to partner with a casino operator, has donated $69,329 to Hochul — including $41,580 in August.
Additional reporting by Zach Williams and Josh Kosman
Claude Solnik
Long Island Business News
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Stop scratching on holidays
Published: June 1, 2012
Off Track Betting in New York State has been racing into a crisis called shrinking revenue. Some people have spitballed a solution: Don’t close on holidays.New York State Racing Law bars racing on Christmas, Easter and Palm Sunday, and the state has ruled OTBs can’t handle action on those days, even though they could easily broadcast races from out of state.“You should be able to bet whenever you want,” said Jackson Leeds, a Nassau OTB employee who makes an occasional bet. He added some irrefutable logic: “How is the business going to make money if you’re not open to take people’s bets?”Elias Tsekerides, president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, said OTB is open on Greek Orthodox Easter and Palm Sunday.“I don’t want discrimination,” Tsekerides said. “They close for the Catholics, but open for the Greek Orthodox? It’s either open for all or not open.”OTB officials have said they lose millions by closing on Palm Sunday alone, with tracks such as Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise and Hawthorne running.One option: OTBs could just stay open and face the consequences. New York City OTB did just that back in 2003. The handle was about $1.5 million – and OTB was fined $5
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