Steve Israel: A casino could open as early as January 2015 Published: 2:00 AM - 01/26/14 The Catskills could conceivably get a casino by this time next year. How is that possible? Gov. Andrew Cuomo in his recent State of the State address said the four non-Indian casinos allowed in the state would be chosen in the early fall. How on earth could anyone build a casino and get it running in a few months? Well, Cuomos budget proposal this past week said this: Through a competitive process, casinos are expected to be open to be open as early as January 2015. Cuomo didnt explain how that could happen. Neither did Lee Park, the spokesman for the New York State Gaming Commission, which will soon choose the committee that selects four casinos in three regions: the Catskills/Hudson Valley, the Southern Tier and the Capital/Saratoga region. One area could get two, and most observers assume it will be the Catskills. But this is how a casino could open in January, 2015: If one of the contenders that was chosen could build in an existing facility, it could be ready to open in a few months. Of the seven Catskill contenders, the only one that has a building ready for a casino is the Empire Resorts/EPR project, slated for the old Concord resort outside Monticello. Although it plans to build a new facility, Empire/EPR is now operating the racino at Monticello Raceway, which already has electronic table games and more than 1,000 slot-like video lottery terminals. A casino could open there — if the project is chosen — and then move to the Concord site when the casino is ready. It could then join two other racinos vying for one of the four casino slots: the Saratoga Casino and Raceway in Saratoga Springs and the Tioga Downs racino near Binghamton. While Empire/EPR did not want to comment, that scenario makes sense to another major player angling for a Catskills casino — Michael Treanor, whos heading the team that wants to transform the dilapidated Nevele resort outside Ellenville into a casino. So far everything the governor said hes going to do is happening, Treanor said. So I think that among (those awarded) the licenses will be a racino. If theyre able to put table games in right away, they can operate a temporary facility. As for the Nevele? We dont have a temporary facility, so I dont see how I can open by January 2015. Gaming Commission spokesman Park expects that the commission will pick the siting board by the end of this week. But according to the criteria, it seems unlikely that the siting board will include anyone from an area that might get a casino. Thats because the siting board members must be free of conflict of interest. This is the other criteria: The members must be New York state residents and not be elected officials. They must also have least 10 years experience in fiscal matters and significant service as an accountant, economist, or financial analyst experienced in finance or economics; in an academic field relating to finance or economics; knowledge of the commercial real estate industry; or executive experience with fiduciary responsibilities in charge of a large organization or foundation. sisrael@th-record
Posted on: Sun, 26 Jan 2014 14:15:49 +0000