Place your bets!
Billionaire Mets proprietor Steve Cohen’s bid to open an $8 billion on line casino advanced subsequent to his crew’s Citi Discipline ballpark might be a successful one.
His odds of snagging one of many coveted state gaming licenses went up — together with these of the Aqueduct Racetrack and Yonkers Raceway slot parlors — after two of the opposite on line casino proposals on the desk went bust.
“Steve Cohen’s proposal is the strongest contender — by a fairly large margin,” mentioned John Sabini, former chairman of the New York State Racing and Wagering Board, the precursor to the present gaming fee.
On Wednesday, two Manhattan state siting boards rejected two of the proposals after fierce neighborhood opposition: One from the partnership Caesars/Jay-Z-Roc Nation and SL Inexperienced for a on line casino in Occasions Sq., and the opposite by Silverstein Properties on the Far West Facet, close to Hudson Yards.
Within the aftermath, Cohen’s “Metropolitan Park” proposal with Laborious Rock emerged as a high contender — together with Genting Resorts World at Aqueduct and MGM Empire Metropolis at Yonkers, two current slot parlors vying for the correct to supply reside desk video games, equivalent to craps, blackjack, poker and baccarat.
Each of the “racinos,” have been in enterprise for 20 years and have a powerful file with gaming regulators and producing thousands and thousands of {dollars} in income for the state through the years, Sabini famous.
“Yonkers MGM and Genting Resorts World are the highest contenders — simply,” he advised The Put up.
“They’ll open shortly. They’ve been ready for a while.”
As a result of it’s been working for years, the Genting Resorts World has not been met with the neighborhood backlash different bidders have confronted, mentioned Queens state Sen. Joe Addabbo, whose district borders the location.
“Resorts World has been neighbor,” mentioned Addabbo, noting the ability was used as a COVID vaccination website and administration and workers helped neighbors recuperate from Superstorm Sandy.
Nonetheless, “Nothing must be taken without any consideration.”
Of the brand new entrants, the Cohen-Laborious Rock on line casino bid in Flushing-Corona, Queens is clearly high of the category, in accordance with Sabini.
It’s an incredible turnaround for the proposal, after overcoming preliminary resistance from the native state senator, Jessica Ramos, who opposed passing a regulation to permit the vacant tons surrounding Citi Discipline to be re-designated from parkland to business use for a on line casino.
The state Senate and Meeting accepted the invoice within the spring, and the bid has garnered sturdy assist from native politicians and group boards.
It can doubtless be accepted by the native siting board for additional consideration by state regulators, consultants predicted.
A former state gaming official additionally agreed that the bids from Cohen and the 2 racinos had been the highest three contenders.
“Steve Cohen is in significantly better form than he was earlier than,” mentioned Bennett Liebman, who served as deputy secretary for gaming and wagering below former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
“Genting Resorts World has at all times been in fine condition,” he mentioned.
Liebman mentioned the MGM Yonkers proposal didn’t have the wow issue of others bidders, however its probabilities improved after the glitzy Manhattan plans had been rejected.
In the meantime, Bally’s bid to open a on line casino on President Trump’s former golf property at Ferry Level in The Bronx and a consortium’s proposal to erect a on line casino in Coney Island are thought of the subsequent tier of “darkish horse” initiatives, Sabini mentioned.
He rated Bally’s barely forward of the Coney proposal, from a partnership that features Thor Equities, Chickasaw Nation’s International Gaming Options, Saratoga On line casino Holdings and Legends Hospitality Group — which has encountered intense neighborhood opposition.
The state Gaming Fee will award as much as three on line casino licenses by 12 months’s finish after getting suggestions from the state gaming amenities location board.
One supply accustomed to the bidding course of mentioned a tricky determination that state gaming regulators must make is whether or not to award a license to a bidder that’s near the present racinos, which may cannibalize their enterprise.
The proposed Cohen-Laborious Rock on line casino is about 10 miles from Aqueduct’s Genting Resort World and Bally’s isn’t removed from MGM’s Empire Metropolis Yonkers raceway facility.
There’s nonetheless one Manhattan proposal in competition, developer Stefan Soloviev and Mohegan Solar’s “Freedom Plaza” on line casino bid alongside the East River.
Sources mentioned the proposal has confronted stiff neighborhood opposition and can doubtless be rejected when it comes up for a vote by the gaming fee’s group advisory committee on Monday.
“There’s much more opposition than assist locally,” mentioned Assemblyman Harvey Epstein, who represents Midtown East and has an appointee on the board voting on the proposal.
“A whole bunch of residents have contacted me. They don’t suppose it’s an applicable location for a on line casino.”
