SARATOGA SPRINGS – Racing officials
Gov. David Paterson unveiled plans on Monday to have the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribe of Wisconsin run a full-scale casino near Monticello.
Thoroughbred officials are concerned about the proposal’s impact on Aqueduct Race Track’s long-awaited racino that’s scheduled to open next spring. New York Racing Associated is slated to get 7 percent of Aqueduct’s gaming revenue, with more than $100 million earmarked for Saratoga Race Course capital projects, and millions more going to purses.
“We’ve been waiting nine years for Aqueduct,” said Rick Violette, a NYRA board member, trainer and New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association president. “Before even the first dollar is in a slot machine, the revenue is going to be changed. It’s just unconscionable.”
In addition to Aqueduct, harness tracks would also take a major hit. Yonkers Raceway has the state’s largest racino with more than 5,000 video lottery terminals. An Indian casino would have a full complement of table games such as blackjack, poker and roulette that bettors prefer more.
Paterson is touting the project’s financial impact, saying it would create thousands of jobs and generate significant revenue for the economically depressed Catskills.
But Tioga and Vernon Downs harness track owner Jeff Gural said, “The governor is completely wrong. You don’t have to be a math wizard. It makes no sense.”
The state gets from 50 to 60 cents of every dollar bet at a harness track racino, but would only get 25 percent from Indian casino slots and nothing from table games.
“The tax deal they’re proposing would put all the racinos in the state at a disadvantage,” said Daniel Gerrity, Saratoga Gaming & Raceway president.
Paterson’s announcement came less than two weeks after Genting New York LLC began construction on Aqueduct’s new racino, called Resorts World New York. The firm recently gave the state a $380 million upfront licensing fee payment.
“Resorts World New York is extremely disappointed in the decision to approve an out-of-state full-fledged Indian casino that pays comparatively little in taxes,” spokesman Stefan Friedman said Tuesday. “It sets a legal precedent that could allow Indian tribes across the nation to set up casinos in New York, and at the same time, it is devastating to the state's taxpaying gaming industry, which will now be forced to compete on a dramatically uneven playing field. Ultimately, this decision will mean thousands of lost jobs, billions in lost tax revenue, and far too much lost opportunity for a state that can ill afford to lose any of those things. Before taking any other actions, the state – including the Lottery, attorney general, the comptroller and the budget director – should fully assess the economic and legal impact of this decision."
NYRA President and CEO Charles Hayward declined comment.
But Violette said Genting is already considering whether or not to scale back plans at Aqueduct.
“Internally, they’re very concerned,” he said. “It just might change their approach. Barely after the ink is dry on the prior agreement (with Genting), this changes the whole playing field. The whole thing just isn’t right. It’s not how to treat people. The rules keep changing, the finish line keeps moving.”
Paterson’s office says an Indian deal has been in the works for years, but Assembly racing committee Chairman J. Gary Pretlow said Monday’s announcement took legislators completely by surprise. “Everyone was blind-sided by this,” he said, adding that racing would be seriously impacted.
“Absolutely,” he said. “It’s just another draw from their industry.”
In 2001, the Legislature pre-approved up to three Indian casinos in the Catskills, so its further approval isn’t need. The major obstacle is at the federal level. Until now, the U.S. Department of Interior has been very reluctant to allow off-reservation casinos. But that policy is under review.
“This issue affects the entire country,” said Bennett Liebman, a NYRA board member and head of Albany Law School’s Racing and Wagering Law Program. “You can’t expect them (Interior) to act without a great deal of thought. It’s really in their court.”
However, the Catskills project has the backing of powerful U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, D-New York, and longtime Democratic U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey, a political ally of Schumer’s.
“August at Saratoga is unique,” Schumer said. “People flock to it and wager on those races because they want to be part of the special majesty and history of the track, and that will never change. A casino in the Catskills will not only provide revenue to New York State and a boost to an economically devastated region, but it will keep tourism dollars at home that right now are going to Atlantic City, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.”
But a Catskills Indian casino would almost certainly ignite a long legal battle from New York’s other tribes, who would challenge a Wisconsin tribe’s right to operate an off-reservation casino in New York. Paterson’s office says the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribe has its roots with the Mohicans, making it legally able to operate in New York.
Liebman downplayed an Indian casino’s impact on Aqueduct. Three large casinos are already within equal or closer driving distance to downtown Manhattan – the Parx Casino, formerly Philadelphia Park Casino; Sands Casino in Bethlehem, Pa. and Mount Airy Casino Resort in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains.
The bigger concern could be the project’s precedent-setting nature. The Shinnecock Tribe of Eastern Long Island wants to build an off-reservation casino and Belmont Park – only eight miles from Aqueduct – has been discussed as a potential site. Even a casino on Central Long Island would have a major impact on Aqueduct.
The only way for the state Legislature to influence the Catskills project would be repealing the pre-approval it previously granted.
Another curious aspect about the timing of Paterson’s announcement is the impact an Indian casino would have on Off Track Betting. The governor has called the Legislature back for a special session starting Monday to enact changes needed for New York City Off Track Betting Corp. to emerge from bankruptcy.
However, an Indian casino could draw some business away from that firm and the state’s other OTBs, too.
“All of this gambling is destroying OTB,” said Donald Groth, Catskill Regional Off Track Betting Corp. president and CEO. “It’s outrageous to just keep plowing ahead without doing a feasibility study to analyze the impacts of all these projects on each other.”
Joseph Faraldo, Standardbred Owners Association of New York president, said a Catskills Indian casino would make it difficult for harness tracks including Saratoga Gaming & Raceway to obtain financing for future expansions, because their revenues would suffer. “When you go to a bank for financing they want to see your projections. What is your revenue stream. This would jeopardize all of that,” he said.
Reach Paul Post at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 518-583-8729 ext. 218.
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