The New York Gaming Facility Location Board recommended all three finalists from New York City for casino licenses on Monday.
The New York Gaming Facility Location Board gathered at the City University of New York's Graduate Center in Manhattan to issue its recommendations to the state's gaming commission.
The three projects are Metropolitan Park, Resorts World New York City in Queens, and Bally's in the Bronx. They will now go to the New York State Gaming Commission, which will check their ethical and financial qualifications before giving the final licenses.
Barring some unexpected and highly unusual circumstance, the commission is expected to follow the board's recommendations.
Details on The New York Downstate Casino License Finalists
The competition for New York's three casino licenses in the downstate area has been narrowed down to three choices over the year. Here they are:
Metropolitan Park
Metropolitan Park, supported by New York Mets owner Steve Cohen, plans to turn the parking lots around Citi Field into a casino, resort, and park.
The plan includes an $8 billion project near Citi Field. Cohen wants to turn 50 acres of parkland, including a parking lot for Citi Field, into an entertainment area.
This area would feature a casino, a Hard Rock hotel with 2,300 rooms, a live music venue, a food hall, and sports fields. With a lot of local support and funding, the proposal is strong even though there is some opposition.
Resorts World
Resorts World wants to add table games to its current location at the Aqueduct Racetrack.
Resorts World New York City (RWNYC) plans to give about $2.5 billion to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) if it gets a gaming license by December 2025.
This amount includes a $600 million fee for the license and $1.9 billion in taxes from gaming over four years. RWNYC's contribution would be more than the $1.8 billion the MTA expects to receive from all three casino licenses in the area between 2026 and 2029.
Ferry Point
Bally’s is planning to build a casino and hotel near its Ferry Point golf course.
Bally's plans to build a large, 500,000-square-foot casino near their golf course at Ferry Point, which used to be managed by President Trump's company. The project will also include a 500-room hotel, a spa, meeting areas, retail shops, a 2,000-seat event center, and two parking garages with space for up to 4,660 cars.
If Bally's gets a license and approval for the project, Bronx residents will have the opportunity to own up to 10% of the casino shares.
Why Are There Downstate Casino Licenses Available in New York?
In 2013, New York voters approved a constitutional amendment and enabling legislation authorizing up to seven state-licensed commercial casinos, with a structure of four upstate and three downstate licenses.
These rules allowed for up to three full casino licenses for the New York City area, but their issuance was delayed to protect new casinos that opened upstate first. Now, the state is using these licenses to create jobs, generate tax revenue (including money for the MTA and education), and boost economic growth in and around New York City.
Since passing the referendum in 2013, four full casinos have opened in New York, although they are all upstate and far from Manhattan. The state also has nine places with slot machines and other electronic games, but they don't have any live table games.
Can Three Casinos Survive in New York?
Even with many other gambling places around, New York City's big population might be able to support three gambling spots, depending on where they're built, says John Holden, a business professor at Indiana University who knows a lot about gambling law.
In an interview with NBC New York, Holden said: "We typically see fairly rosy revenue projections put out by the gaming industry, but the New York City market is really without comparison".
