Oct. 15 (UPI) — MGM withdrew its bid for a casino license just outside New York City, drawing ire from local officials who have called for an investigation and accused the Trump administration of possible influence.
On Tuesday, MGM Resorts International abruptly withdrew its application for a commercial casino license, ending its bid for one of three state licenses from New York’s Gaming Commission for the planned MGM Yonkers site.
“Since submitting our application in June, the competitive and economic assumptions underpinning our application have shifted, altering our return expectations on the proposed $2.3 billion investment,” according to MGM officials.
The project gained unanimous approval of the Community Advisory Council.
MGM was viewed a leading candidate and the resort conglomerate was set to to begin construction within months of gaining its required license approval. It would’ve contributed to around 14 new restaurants, bars, a 5,000 seat show venue and 183 live dealer games.
“The newly defined competitive landscape — with four proposals clustered in a small geographic area — challenges the returns we initially anticipated from this project,” MGM stated.
Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano was critical of MGM’s decision Tuesday, saying the reasons for MGM’s extreme reversal “just don’t add up” and called on New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to initiate an investigation.
On Wednesday, Hochul stated “at this time” that she was not aware of any reason to investigate.
But Spano described it as “nothing short of a betrayal.”
He pointed to business deals by U.S. President Donald Trump and said the public deserves to know it’s a shady deal.
“It’s no secret that the big winner from this reversal will be Bally’s proposal for a casino at the former Trump Links in Whitestone,” Spano continued. “It’s also no secret that Bally’s has a deal with Donald Trump that they will pay him an additional $115 million if they can open a casino there.”
Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins echoed Spano’s sentiments and added that there “appears to be more to this story.”
“Frankly, this decision makes little sense — especially after MGM had just been celebrating its advancement through the first round of the process,” according to Jenkins.
He suggested “potentially political influence or pressure from the Trump administration, or even the President himself, that forced MGM’s hand to default to Bally’s.”
Jankins stated it was a move that “could result in a profit of roughly $115 million” for the Republican president.
“I have no evidence to suspect there is any wrongdoing,” New York’s governor said Wednesday.