“This is not real economic development,” puts New York State Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox, declaring his opposition to the pro-casino question on the Nov. 5 ballot. He buttressed his anti-casino stance by declaring gambling to be “a bust” in Atlantic City (a bust, it should be noted, the generates several billions dollars a year). While this might seem like a worrisome turn of events, Cox has gone off the reservation. A number of solons in his party support the new casinos and some are giving him a hard time for coming out against them. A subtler, more complex problem for the referendum is a lawsuit that would upend Gov. Andrew Cuomo‘s accord with the Oneida Indian Nation. Simply put, the towns of Vernon and Verona object to the taking of 25,000 acres of land into trust. This would, they argue, devastate their revenue base. The suit would also overturn a Nov. 5 victory. It argues that by creating regulations prior to legalization, Cuomo has put the cart before the horse. This looks like a considerably more serious threat to casino expansion than does Cox’s dyspeptic rhetoric.
Cuomo has finally broken his silence on casino expansion — but only to the extent of saying “it’s a sophisticated argument” to get voters to vote “aye.” Dare we suggest that not-unintelligent Cuomo is the man to make that argument. “I’ll be working to pass the amendment,” he promises. But why is he not doing so already, especially since he thinks voters will have a “natural, knee-jerk” inclination to vote it down? Get out on the hustings, guv.
Case Bets: Would-be advantage players are finding that their world is shrinking, as more and more casinos share surveillance data … the eight-story Barbary Coast is fast growing into the 11-story Gansevoort Las Vegas. A look-see is vouchsafed Howard Stutz, who writes that Caesars Entertainment is literally building atop some astute forethought by Michael Gaughan … it’s Decision Day for Leominster, where Cordish Gaming hopes to build Massachusetts‘ lone slot parlor … meanwhile, to the southeast, KG Urban Entertainment has filed suit to overturn the prefential status accorded the Mashpee Wampanoags, who haven’t bothered to acquire the underlying land for their casino project. Speaking of which, wouldn’t it be better if KG got on the stick with its own project?
