Four proposals remain in the running to earn one of three available licenses for a new New York City casino after a series of recent votes.
Another bid bit the dust on Monday, as a community advisory committee (CAC) rejected a $3.4 billion plan for The Coney casino complex in Coney Island. Members rejected the proposal from Thor Equities, Saratoga Casino Holdings, Legends Hospitality and Chickasaw Nation by a vote of 4-2 against.
The Coney’s rejection came after the three Manhattan proposals – Rush Street Gaming’s The Avenir, the Jay-Z-backed Caesars Times Square and Mohegan-operated Freedom Plaza – were all eliminated from contention in the space of a week, each by the same 4-2 vote. In all of those rejections, the CAC members appointed by Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams were the only members to vote yes.
Red light, green light
The same day that The Coney was kiboshed, Bally’s $4 billion plan for a casino at Ferry Point in the Bronx on the site of a former golf course owned by President Donald Trump got the green light via a 5-1 vote. Then, on Tuesday, the Hard Rock Casino Citi Field project in Queens led by New York Mets owner Steve Cohen was unanimously approved 6-0.
Those two proposals join two existing racinos, MGM Empire City in Yonkers and Resorts World near JFK Airport, as the four bids still alive. MGM Yonkers and Resorts World already offer VLTs at their racetracks and are looking to overhaul and expand their operations into full casino resorts, while Bally’s and Hard Rock want to put shovels in the ground on brand-new resorts.
The racinos’ respective proposals were both approved by unanimous vote at the CAC stage.
December decision awaits
The next step for the quartet is deliberation and an eventual vote by the state Gaming Facility Location Board.
The board has a deadline of Dec. 1 to make official recommendations to the New York State Gaming Commission, which will then have until Dec. 31 to issue up to three licenses to expand brick-and-mortar casino gaming in the Empire State.
