Ten high rollers continue to vie for three lucrative full casino licenses in downstate New York in a years-long race that evolved from a sprint to a marathon.
Bids were submitted back in 2023 after state lawmakers approved the opening of three downstate casinos, each of which would feature full gaming tables for roulette, blackjack, poker, and other high-stakes action. The state is expected to finally award those three licenses at the end of 2025, and the highest-rolling entities are staking big bets that they will be one of the three lucky winners at the end of the vetting process.
The bidders include some of the state’s wealthiest interests, often in partnership with major gaming outlets across the country — stretching from Connecticut to Las Vegas. Their plans are not merely visions of roulette wheels and crowded craps tables; they include major public investments — skyscrapers, public parks, retail and gaming opportunities, hotels, and even affordable housing.
Without question, the three winning bids will have the potential to reshape the socioeconomic landscape of the New York City metro area. Currently, only video lottery terminal (VLT) wagering is available in this region at places like Resorts World New York City Casino at Aqueduct Racetrack and MGM Empire City at Yonkers Raceway — with the parlors helping to support the horse racing industry statewide.
The two “racinos” at Aqueduct and Yonkers Raceway appear to be favorites for winning two of the three downstate casino licenses. They have both been in operation for more than a decade and have made hundreds of millions on the VLT slot machine-like devices at each location, but introducing table games at both locations would make both ventures even more lucrative.
Yet the race for all three downstate licenses is wide open — and nothing is a sure bet in the fierce competition full of big ideas and visions with billions of dollars at stake.
Path to success
Like an exclusive, high-stakes game of Texas Hold’em, the process has been reserved for the uber-wealthy — with an applicant needing more than $1 billion just to be in the running. The ante to merely apply is $1 million, with successful bidders required to pay $500 million upfront for the license and at least $500 million as part of a development plan. Licenses will be good for a minimum of 10 years and a maximum of 30 years.
The winners will be selected by a three-person state Gaming Facility Location Board, which will then make recommendations to the state’s Gaming Commission.
The developers, however, must first win the support of the local community where their plan is proposed.
Each project is to be reviewed by a local group — known as a Community Advisory Committee — which must sign off on it. Each committee consists of six people, with the governor, mayor, the local state senator, local state assembly member, the borough president and the local city council member each appointing a representative.
Their role is to gauge the interest of the community and make a recommendation. At least four of the six committee members must approve of the plan for it to move forward.
The applicants must also meet all environmental and zoning requirements before the Gaming Facility Location Board reviews their plans. It is anticipated a final decision on the three licenses will come at the end of 2025.
Racinos hope to be sure bets
Both Resorts World NYC and MGM Empire city are likely to have little community resistance, pundits say, and would be able to convert to a full casino relatively quickly. Furthermore, they have the infrastructure needed for expansion, with parking and access to highways.
Resorts World, which opened in 2011 and has 6,500 slots and electronic table games, would be able to build out the facility to include live dealers at table games with relative ease. They have at least one ally in a local legislator.
“Certainly, they’ve had 11 very successful years of being a part of the southeast Queens community where they are a really good neighbor — and the biggest factor is they have the infrastructure in place and they’re ready to expand,” said state Sen. Joseph Addabbo (D-Queens), who chairs the state Senate Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wagering.
In February 2024, Resorts World rolled out a $5 billion expansion and redevelopment plan should it receive a full gaming license. The expansion would encompass almost all of the Aqueduct Racetrack footprint; the New York Racing Association, which currently operates racing at Aqueduct at least six months a year, plans to move its operations to the new and improved Belmont Park once the ongoing $450 million construction of a new racetrack and grandstand is completed in the fall of 2026.
Resorts World’s expansion plan includes the creation of a new 50-acre park on the Aqueduct Racetrack site, as well as a 7,000 sq. ft. concert center and 3,000 units of workforce housing.
The Empire City Casino, which is 15 miles from Times Square, has attributes similar to those of Resorts World and operates thousands of slot machines. The license would merely be an expansion with new restaurants and entertainment facilities, and not a project that has to be built from the ground up.
Sky’s the limit in Manhattan
The three Manhattan casino proposals, meanwhile, are filled with the kind of glitz and glamor that captures the imagination and may prove to be offers too good for the state to refuse.
The Times Square plan involves redeveloping 1515 Broadway, an office skyscraper in the heart of Times Square by West 44th Street that has an existing Broadway theater located on the ground floor. The casino would be housed in the building, which would also include a hotel and restaurants.
Rolled out last June, the plan also includes $250 million in community reinvestment to support businesses and groups in Midtown and nearby Hell’s Kitchen.
SL Green Realty, Caesars Entertainment, and Jay-Z have put together the proposal. The casino would be known as Caesars Palace Times Square.
“With a project of this scale comes enormous responsibility to our neighborhood and community. We want everyone around us to win if we win,” said Brett Herschenfeld, executive vice president at SL Green. “I’m not just talking about big businesses. We need to bring benefits to the restaurants, the small mom-and-pop restaurant businesses, and we need to bring benefits to the residents. They are the lifeblood of Times Square.”
According to reports, SL Green has also pledged to use a portion of the casino’s revenues to fund safety and sanitation improvements in Times Square.
The Saks Fifth Avenue proposal also calls for transforming an existing building.
Hudson’s Bay Company, the owner of Saks Fifth Avenue, proposes converting the top three floors of the Midtown store into a high-end casino.
The company aims to create a Monte Carlo-style casino that will attract wealthy tourists from around the world.
The project, first reported by the New York Times, would not require major development and could be up and running within a year.
Related Companies, a New York City real estate giant, and Wynn Resorts are looking to build a casino from the ground up in an undeveloped area of Hudson Yards, located on the Far West Side of Manhattan.
The casino would be upscale and would be part of the newly created district that has been developed by the Related Companies that consists of office towers, high-end stores and luxury apartments.
“At the center of it all is Hudson Green, a 5.6-acre rolling green park with incredible river vistas, hundreds of trees for hot summer days, gardens, a playground and a dog park,” said Related CEO Jeff Blau. “We truly believe it will be an oasis that becomes the new calling card of the neighborhood. In the months ahead, we look forward to sharing more details of the extensive, long-term economic and community benefits our vision for Hudson Yards and Wynn New York City will bring to New York.”
The Midtown East proposal, which would also involve the construction of a new development, is led by real estate billionaire Stefan Soloviev and the Mohegan Tribe. It calls for a 1,200-room hotel, about 1,300 apartments, and an underground casino—all to go up just south of the United Nations headquarters.
According to Soloviev, the overall project is being dubbed “Freedom Plaza,” and it would also include the construction of a museum dedicated to democracy.
“The revenue generated by the project’s entertainment and hospitality component will allow Freedom Plaza to deliver the affordable housing program and expansive publicly accessible green space, with many more details yet to be announced,” said Ray Pineault, CEO and President of Mohegan in a 2023 statement.
Looking outward
Steve Cohen, the billionaire owner of the New York Mets, has floated the possibility of building a casino as part of an entertainment complex on the 50-acre asphalt parking lot next to Citi Field.
Metropolitan Park would be created on a 50-acre piece of parkland that has been used as a parking lot since the 1939 World’s Fair — as well as for events such as carnivals and a variety of other public uses. It also includes the footprint of what once was Shea Stadium.
Cohen has held meetings, including two visioning sessions, with the public to solicit feedback as to what to incorporate in his plans.
“Metropolitan Park will deliver 25 acres of vibrant public park space, 23,000 well-paying union jobs, and much-needed transit upgrades,” Cohen said in March. “It’s time the world’s greatest borough gets the investment it deserves.”
Earlier this month, the City Council gave its blessing to Cohen’s vision — which includes a 25-acre public park, shops and restaurants, a Taste of Queens food hall, the redevelopment of the Mets-Willets Point subway station, and improved roads and bike paths. A casino is at the heart of the Metropolitan Park plan, which is entirely contingent upon the venture receiving one of the three coveted downstate gaming licenses.
A site in the Bronx is also in the running.
Bally’s, a large gaming company that operates in Atlantic City, is looking to develop a casino at Trump Golf Links in Throggs Neck.
The company struck a deal with the Trump Organization to take 17 acres of the 300-acre property that adorns the Trump name. The city owns the property, and Trump’s company had a 20-year contract with the Parks Department to operate it as a golf course.
Bally’s plans to develop a 500,000-square-foot gaming hall on the Bronx site, along with a 500-room hotel with a spa and meeting space, retail shops, a 2,000-seat event center, and two parking garages with capacity for up to 4,660 vehicles. The development would be spread across 16.75 acres on the public golf course at the park.
On Wednesday, Bally’s Corporation announced a community benefits agreement for the project that pledges to provide more than $200 million in community investment. The gaming giant says the Bronx casino will also provide 15,000 construction jobs and more than 4,000 permanent jobs for local residents.
Not to be outdone, a project in Brooklyn is in the running.
Thor Equities, a real estate investment firm, is partnering with Saratoga Casino Holdings and the Chickasaw Nation to build a casino in Coney Island.
The proposal seeks to revitalize the area by placing a casino by the famed Coney Island boardwalk near the Wonder Wheel.
Their proposal would feature a towering glass building overlooking the amusement park in the heart of the waterfront community. The structure, dubbed “The Coney”, would feature a new hotel just steps from the iconic boardwalk.
“The Coney will help revitalize Coney Island, bringing year-round jobs and world-class entertainment to Brooklyn and New York City,” said project spokesman Eric Koch. “The project’s revitalizing power will help drive a Coney Island comeback.”
Advocates say the casino would bring year-round foot traffic and transform Coney Island from a seasonal venue into a year-round entertainment area.
Still, The Coney project has had a difficult time winning over local residents. In January, local Community Board 13 recommended denial of the application, with residents skeptical that Thor Equities would come through with its promises of $200 million in community investment. The board’s vote, however, is nonbinding.
There is one proposal that includes a site on Long Island.
Las Vegas Sands has proposed turning the largely dormant Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale into a casino.
The company plans to lease the county-owned facility that has remained largely unused since the coronavirus pandemic. The property had previously hosted the New York Islanders hockey team.
The Sands proposal is billed as a $6 billion flagship hospitality, entertainment and casino project, which would include high-end amenities like a Canyon Ranch spa and celebrity-chef restaurants affiliated with brands like Rao’s, Jean-Georges, and Estiatorio Milos, as well as Poll Restaurants (Bryant & Cooper Steakhouse, Majors Steakhouse, Cipollini Trattoria & Bar).
The property would also include boutique shops, two luxury hotels, a live entertainment venue, a conference center, and open space, in addition to a casino taking up less than 10% of the footprint.
No matter what proposal is approved, legislators such as Addabbo want the decision to come quickly, noting that the longer the state takes to award the licenses the longer it will be before the state benefits from the revenue. Furthermore, any delays postpone the boost to the local economy.
“The quicker the three licenses are approved, the quicker we can begin to realize the major benefits to the state, such as thousands of construction and post-construction jobs, billions in revenue from the licenses, an increase in problem gambling monies and programs, as well as billions more in educational funding when the winning casinos go live,” Addabbo said in a statement.
