The Business Council of Westchester Supports State Casino Decision

Six applications for casinos in Orange County, NY, the closest one to Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties - and New York City - of those that applied were turned down by the New York State Gaming Commission Wednesday, but three others further upstate were approved.

According to gaming commission report, the three approved casinos are Montreign Resort Casino in the Town of Thompson (Sullivan County), Rivers Casino & Resort at Mohawk Harbor in the City of Schenectady (Schenectady County) and Lago Resort & Casino in the Town of Tyre (Seneca County).

Montreign Resort Casino is the only one approved for what the commission calls the Catskills/Hudson Valley Region, and The New York Times reports that one of the reasons the six proposed for Orange County failed was because it would have “undermined” the Sullivan County facility.

The commission’s decision as it pertains to Orange County sat well with The Business Council of Westchester, according to John Ravitz, the council’s executive vice president and COO.

“The New York State Gamming Commission’s decision not to approve a license for a casino in Orange County is the right one for New York,” said Ravitz in a statement. “After many hearings and a lot of lobbying from the business community, the Gaming Commission stayed with the intent of the law and rightly did not view Orange County as a distressed community. Doing so could have cannibalized an already successful business in Yonkers that employs thousands of people and generates hundreds of millions of dollars for New York and would have jeopardized other potential casinos just north of Orange County.”

Empire City Casino in Yonkers is the facility he is referring to in Yonkers.

Ravitz said the council and numerous state lawmakers “expressed their concerns with the potential of building any casino or granting any gaming license for Orange County – a short distance from existing facilities in Yonkers and New York City and other possible casinos north of Orange County.”

The Council, Ravitz added, also supports Empire City’s “eventual goal of getting a full gaming license because of its proven record of creating jobs and generating millions of dollars in revenue for Westchester County and New York State.”

Click here to read the commission’s full report.

Click here to read The New York Times story.

Patch file photo.