New York will not be expediting the bidding process for three casino licenses in or around New York City after Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed an acceleration. The senator whose bill proposed an earlier deadline says he will continue to push the issue in 2025.
Sen. Joseph Addabbo’s bill S9673A, which passed through the state House and the Senate in June, stipulated a deadline of Aug. 31, 2024, for bids to be submitted. That approved legislation was set to be sent to Hochul shortly after its approval but was left unsigned.
Now, after that mooted deadline has long since passed, Hochul has formally vetoed the bill.
“Changing the timeline …. would likely have the impact of helping certain bidders and hurting others,” Hochul said in her veto message, as quoted by the New York Post. “I cannot support a bill that aims to change the rules in the middle of the process.”
While lawmakers had approved the August 2024 deadline, the New York Gaming Facility Location Board disagreed. At a board meeting in late June, members approved a new bid deadline of June 27, 2025, after deeming this summer’s timeline too soon. Member Stuart Rabinowitz said at the time that an August 2024 deadline “would put some potential applicants under a lot of pressure and would favor some and disfavor others.”
The June 2025 deadline, said the board, gives applicants enough time to get everything in order and allows the board enough leeway to thoroughly consider applications before its approval deadline of Dec. 31, 2025.
The bill vetoed by Hochul would have forced the board to expedite its own timeline.
Addabbo intends to force issue
In a statement made available to SBC Americas, Addabbo said he was not attempting to change the timeline, merely formally set one.
“Codifying a timeframe for an already unduly prolonged downstate casino process would merely improve the process by allowing it to actually begin accepting applications…” Addabbo wrote.
“My legislation was attempting to bring credibility to the current state of the downstate casino process, not to ‘alter the timeframe’ as stated in the governor’s veto message, since no codified timeframe to start accepting applications exists at all. The veto of S9673A would further delay the creation of thousands of union jobs, postpone guaranteed funding for the MTA projected to be initially over $2 billion, as well as ongoing tax revenue for the MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority).
“Therefore, what rational reason is there for the state to hinder the submission of applications for a downstate casino process indefinitely, because without codifying a submission and completion date said process can meander on as it has been for over two years already.”
Addabbo, who chairs the Senate Committee on Racing, Gaming, and Wagering, added in his statement that he intends to “reintroduce revised legislation” that will codify the proposed June 2025 timeframe the intent to finalize the process in December 2025.
“Codifying a timeframe does not ‘change the rules in the middle of the process’ as the governor also stated in her veto message … but will technically add validity to a process that is severely lacking structure and effectiveness by not having a statutory timeframe for accepting casino license applications nor completion.”
11 proposals filed, but no bids
New York law allows for three brick-and-mortar facilities at commercial locations in and around New York City. Proposals have been filed by operators including Bally’s, Caesars, MGM Resorts, Hard Rock, Las Vegas Sands and Mohegan, on sites ranging from Times Square to Long Island to the Bronx.
However, formal bids are yet to be filed. Bidders must include provisions such as zoning changes and environmental impact studies when they are filed.
The state will get a minimum of $500 million from each bidder awarded a casino license, with proceeds going to the MTA.
