New York City will be getting three new casinos, a state panel decided Monday.
The Gaming Facility Location Board green lit all of the maximum three downstate licenses available during a morning session at the CUNY Graduate Center in Midtown. Only three contenders, two in Queens and one in the Bronx, were still in the running after a long process that sparked community pushback in a number of NYC neighborhoods.
The trio of winners are Resorts World, the existing racino in Jamaica; Hard Rock Metropolitan Park, the pet project of Mets owner Steve Cohen slated to go up in Citi Field’s Willets Point backyard; and Bally’s Bronx at the golf course in Ferry Point Park.
The three will be New York City’s first full-fledged casinos, featuring a full range of table games. The existing area racinos, Resorts World in Queens and Empire City in Yonkers, have been more limited in what they can offer.
Monday’s vote marks the end of a yearslong saga during which some of the biggest names in gaming, hospitality and real estate went all in trying to secure a lucrative license.
This is a developing story and will be updated.