The Oneidas' decision to open a $20 million casino in Chittenango is a "brilliant" strategic move that will set them up as a formidable competitor against the proposed casino in Tyre, the owner of Vernon Downs said Sunday.
"People will go where it's most convenient to gamble,'' said Jeff Gural, owner of Vernon Downs. "The casino in Chittenango will now be the closest one to Syracuse, which they (the Oneidas) are hoping will give them a bigger piece of the Syracuse market."
The Oneida Nation announced plans Sunday to open this spring a casino with 436 slots and a 500-seat bingo hall off Route 5 in the unused portion of the Chittenango Tops plaza. It will be open 24 hours a day.
Lee Park, speaking for the New York State Gaming Commission, said New York has no regulatory role in the Oneida Nation's plan whatsoever.
"The Oneida Nation has indicated plans to open Class II gaming,'' he said. "Such gaming activities are regulated by the tribe in conjunction with the National Indian Gaming Commission. New York plays no regulatory role in Class II gaming. "
The Oneidas received approval for the casino, which is on Oneida Nation land, through the New York State gaming compact in 1993, which was negotiated with the state and approved by the U.S. Secretary of Interior. The casino is on Oneida Nation land.
The Chittenango casino announcement came just days after a state panel recommended licensing three non-Indian casinos in Upstate New York. Rochester developer Thomas Wilmot plans to build one of those - a $425 million casino and hotel - 42 miles west of Syracuse in Seneca County.
The 67,000-square-foot Chittenango casino, to be called the Yellow Brick Road casino in honor of author L. Frank Baum's "The Wizard of Oz," will employ 250 people.
Ray Halbritter, Oneida Nation representative and chief executive officer, said the new casino would be opened whether or not New York approves Wilmot's Lago Resort & Casino. He said the decision to build the Chittenango casino was not influenced by Wilmot's plan.
Still, the new casino will be positioned to compete against Lago, Vernon Downs' Gural said.
While it will be a competitor to Vernon Downs, a harness race track with video lottery machines, "it will have more impact on Lago,'' he said.
He said having five casinos within 80 miles of each other is oversaturation, and believes the state panel made a mistake in its recommendations.
Gary Greenberg, minority owner of Vernon Downs Hotel and a casino gaming expert, said this will be end of Vernon Downs.
"In the saturation environment we are in now, this will kill Vernon Downs,'' Greenberg said. "Lago and this new announcement are sending chills down the back of worried employees at Vernon in the holiday season. It is not good for anyone to have casinos on every street corner."
Greenberg said he predicted this would happen when he opposed the 2013 agreement between the Oneidas and the state.
The 2013 compact signed by the Oneidas and Gov. Andrew Cuomo settled outstanding land claims and gave the nation the exclusive right to gaming activity in a 10-county area around the Turning Stone Casino.
In exchange, the Oneida Nation agreed to share, for the first time, 25 percent of its slot revenues with state and local governments. Revenues from the Yellow Brick Road Casino will be part of that, said Oneida nation spokesman Joel Barkin.
Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente said the Chittenango casino "will clearly benefit" residents in both counties, particularly with revenue-sharing agreement.
"Anything they do as far as expansion and growth will benefit us in terms of jobs, tourism and revenues,'' he said. "It is a positive all around."
Assemblyman William Magee, a Democrat who represents the 121st Assembly district which includes Chittenango, said he's not so sure.
He called the announcement "unbelievable" and said the Oneidas "are doing a good job of taking advantage of everybody."
Magee said he also thinks it's a strategic move to help compete against the Lago casino, but is surprised it is so close to Turning Stone Resort Casino. The new casino will be 20 miles west of Turning Stone.
"I see it (the new casino) as competing against other local businesses,'' he said.
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