Hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen, Genting Group and Bally’s Corp. each won formal approval to open casinos in New York, marking the first time in the city’s modern history that full-scale gambling parlors will operate legally inside the five boroughs.

The decision Monday by the New York State Gaming Commission culminated a decade-long process to allow as many as three new casinos to be built in the city and its surrounding suburbs. That sets the stage for two projects in Queens and one in the Bronx.