That’s the word from key legislators, who have made it clear that Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) would be putting a casino in Manhattan over their dead bodies. “I believe it would be seriously detrimental to the residential and commercial quality of Manhattan,” said Assemblyman Richard Gottfried. Cuomo’s idea of compromise was to allow Manhattanites to hold their nose and choose where on the island a megaresort would go. Sort of a pick-your-poison deal. But lawmakers said that was spinach and to hell with it. “This got really close. It fell apart in the wee hours of the morning,” a source told the New York Post.
Meanwhile, executives for the three interested companies—Las Vegas Sands, Wynn Resorts and Bally’s Corp.—are waiting until January, when solons may revisit the issue. For Sands, which essentially builds convention centers with ‘big barn’ casinos tacked on, a Manhattan site may be crucial. As for Cuomo, he has sugarplum fairies bearing $1.5 million in licensing fees dancing in his head. In theory, it should be a five-way race for a three full-spectrum casinos but everyone and their brother expects MGM Empire State in Yonkers and Resorts World New York in Queens to be juiced into the first two licenses, leaving Sands and its ilk squabbling over the last one.
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Despite the Lege’s truly dismal performance, Las Vegas Sands‘ man in Austin, Andy Abboud, remained optimistic, blowing sunshine up solons’ asses. “We have said from the beginning that we’re committed to Texas for the long haul. We have made great strides this session and have enjoyed meeting with lawmakers about our vision for destination resorts and answering all the questions they have.” Given the short shrift he got from lawmakers, we’re not so sure about Abboud making any “great strides,” and the deployment of literally scores of lobbyists, led by Karen Rove, yielded so little progress that it has to be chalked up as a giant flop. Losers other than Sands included Golden Nugget owner Tilman Fertitta and several Native American tribes who would have qualified for Class III casinos. It’s difficult to scavenge much upside from this result and Abboud might want to think about making some friends on the Democratic side of the aisle. The Texas GOP is so casino-averse that Abboud was ultimately spitting into the wind.
Slot addict and 
