Empire City Casino: Local leaders press for gaming license in Yonkers
The city of Yonkers passed a resolution to support it, and the Business Council of Westchester is backing it too.As Empire City Casino embarks on an uphill battle to land a lucrative casino license in the near term, it is getting strong support from local leaders who plan to push Albany to lift a moratorium on new casinos in New York.
“We’re going to continue to really lead the charge to hopefully get the governor and the Legislature to understand that you need to open up the compact,” said John Ravitz, the vice president of the Business Council of Westchester.no deposit casinos
Local officials in Westchester County tout the economic benefits of letting Empire City, now owned by MGM, expand to be able to add table games, Las Vegas-style slot machines and sports betting.
Currently, Empire City is limited to 5,200 video-lottery terminals and electronic table games.MGM and other casino giants are promising to pay huge licensing fees to the state, perhaps $500 million each, for the right to open full-scale casinos in New York City and the suburbs.
The extra money could be welcomed by the state as it wrestles with budget gaps for the fiscal year that starts April 1.But they face a significant roadblock: State law bars new casino licenses until 2023 after Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Legislature agreed to let four upstate casinos have a seven-year head start before any new facilities open downstate.
With MGM’s $800 million purchase of Empire City and Yonkers Raceway, the Las Vegas-based company is pressing the state to reconsider its moratorium.And it has paired with Genting, the Malaysian-based casino company which owns Resorts World in Queens, in seeking to lobby lawmakers and Cuomo to change their stance.
Uri Clinton, the CEO of Empire City, was at the Capitol on Tuesday asking lawmakers to consider the benefit of allowing the Yonkers casino to expand. On Wednesday, he met with the Business Council of Westchester.
