NEW YORK, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- Casino gambling appears headed to New York City with approval of an agreement by Gov. David Paterson and state legislative leaders, officials say.
Genting New York, a subsidiary of the largest gambling company in England and Southeast Asia, could begin installing 4,525 video slot machines at Aqueduct racetrack in Queens by next month if the plan wins approval from the state attorney general and the state comptroller, The New York Times reported Friday.
Paterson and leaders of the State Senate and State Assembly this week approved Genting's plan.
The bid to bring casino gambling to the Big Apple has stalled for much of a decade, sidetracked repeatedly by a casino company's bankruptcy, funding difficulties, disputes and investigations, the Times said.
The newspaper said Genting's promise to pay a $380 million licensing fee up front proved critical because it would provide the state badly needed money immediately. State lottery officials, who selected Genting's bid, had stipulated the casino operator put in at least $300 million in advance.
Genting projected more than $1.5 million in daily state tax revenue.
The grandstand at the old racetrack in Queens will be transformed into a "showcase," the company said, with a three-story atrium, a posh, two-story gambling hall, restaurants and a new enclosed sky bridge to the subway station and a shuttle to John F. Kennedy Airport.
"We're trying to create a first-class, day-trip destination casino, not slots in a box," Jay Walker, a senior consultant to Genting Berhad, Genting New York's Malaysian parent company, told the Times.
New York authorized video slot machines at Aqueduct and eight other racetracks in 2001 to generate revenue in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. But slot parlors failed, including the first one at Aqueduct when its sponsor, the New York Racing Association, declared bankruptcy in 2006.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/08/13/Casino-gambling-heading-to-Big-Apple/UPI-44721281708548/
Genting New York, a subsidiary of the largest gambling company in England and Southeast Asia, could begin installing 4,525 video slot machines at Aqueduct racetrack in Queens by next month if the plan wins approval from the state attorney general and the state comptroller, The New York Times reported Friday.
Paterson and leaders of the State Senate and State Assembly this week approved Genting's plan.
The bid to bring casino gambling to the Big Apple has stalled for much of a decade, sidetracked repeatedly by a casino company's bankruptcy, funding difficulties, disputes and investigations, the Times said.
The newspaper said Genting's promise to pay a $380 million licensing fee up front proved critical because it would provide the state badly needed money immediately. State lottery officials, who selected Genting's bid, had stipulated the casino operator put in at least $300 million in advance.
Genting projected more than $1.5 million in daily state tax revenue.
The grandstand at the old racetrack in Queens will be transformed into a "showcase," the company said, with a three-story atrium, a posh, two-story gambling hall, restaurants and a new enclosed sky bridge to the subway station and a shuttle to John F. Kennedy Airport.
"We're trying to create a first-class, day-trip destination casino, not slots in a box," Jay Walker, a senior consultant to Genting Berhad, Genting New York's Malaysian parent company, told the Times.
New York authorized video slot machines at Aqueduct and eight other racetracks in 2001 to generate revenue in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. But slot parlors failed, including the first one at Aqueduct when its sponsor, the New York Racing Association, declared bankruptcy in 2006.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/08/13/Casino-gambling-heading-to-Big-Apple/UPI-44721281708548/
