Rolling dice in Catskills
State OKs casino 90 miles from NYC
The struggling Catskills region hit the jackpot Wednesday — selected as one three upstate destinations for a casino license and by far the closest to New York City bettors.
The Cuomo administration tapped Empire Resorts to open the massive Montreign casino in the Town of Thompson, Sullivan County — just 90 miles from Midtown Manhattan.
The 18story casino, hotel and entertainment complex — on the site of the old Concord Hotel — will have 61 gaming tables, 2,150 slot machines and 391 hotel rooms.
Montreign will be part of a development that includes an “entertainment village” with restaurants and retail outlets, a golf course and new housing.
“This is great day for Empire Resorts and a great day for Sullivan County and the Catskills,” said Empire Resorts VP Charles Degliomini.
Empire currently operates the nearby Monticello Raceway and slots parlor.
K.T. Lim, chairman of the Malysianbased Genting firm that runs the wildly successful Aqueduct racino and casinos across the globe, also is a winner. He is the majority owner of Empire and the Montreign.
The state Gaming Commission’s Facility Location Gaming Board also awarded casinos to the Capital District and the Finger Lakes/Southern Tier.
Rivers Casino and Resort will open in Schenectady, a city that has been grappling with fiscal woes and high unemployment.
It will be run by Neil Bluhm, chairman of Rush Gaming and the Galesi Group, a major realestate developer.
State officials also authorized the opening of the Lago Resort & Casino in upstate Tyre in the Finger Lakes/Southern Tier. about 40 miles from Syracuse.
Wilmot Gaming, a partnership of Rochester developer Tim Wilmot and the PGP investment firm, will run the facility featuring 2,000 slot machines, 85 gaming tables, hotels, restaurants and a spa.
The casinositing board reviewed 16 bids for the three regions and could have awarded up to four licenses.
Major casino developers — including Genting and Caesars Entertainment — submitted ambitious bids to open casinos in Orange County, less than 50 miles from the Big Apple.
But state officials said they blackballed all six Orange County bids because a casino there would have “cannibalized” gambling parlors in the Catskills and the Yonkers Raceway racino.
Gov. Cuomo insisted the casino expansion was a winwin because the state potentially stands to collect $256 million a year in additional tax revenue by 2019 when all the facilities are operating.
“The risk is all on the private sector and we have only upside,” Cuomo said.
Additional reporting by Josh Kosman