{"id":213271,"date":"2026-04-28T22:53:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T22:53:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/213271\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T22:53:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T22:53:20","slug":"full-casinos-officially-arrive-in-new-york-city-as-resorts-world-launches-live-table-games-in-south-ozone-park-qns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/213271\/","title":{"rendered":"Full casinos officially arrive in New York City as Resorts World launches live table games in South Ozone Park \u2013 QNS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Live table games have officially arrived in New York City after Resorts World New York City<\/a> cut the ribbon at the city\u2019s first commercial casino in South Ozone Park<\/a> on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n

KT Lim, chairman of Resorts World parent company Genting, cast the ceremonial first dice at the casino on Tuesday alongside Queensbridge hip-hop legend Nas and several local elected officials.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are all in,\u201d Lim said Tuesday morning before rolling the dice at a craps table in the new commercial casino.\n<\/p>\n

Nas then marked the opening with what he described as the first live performance at the new commercial casino with a rendition of \u201cIf I Ruled the World.\u201d
\n\"NasNas gave a short performance at Tuesday\u2019s ribbon-cutting. Photo by Shane O\u2019Brien.\n<\/p>\n

Resorts World officially opened 242 live table games at Tuesday\u2019s ribbon-cutting ceremony, marking the first time that table games have operated in the city. The company also opened a new floor featuring 2,507 commercial casino slots as part of Tuesday\u2019s ribbon-cutting ceremony.<\/p>\n

Resorts World, which previously operated as a \u201cracino\u201d featuring slot machines but no live games, was one of three developments to receive a downstate gaming license from the state\u2019s Gaming Commission last December, alongside the Bally\u2019s development in the Bronx and fellow Queens site Metropolitan Park.<\/p>\n

The Resorts World bid had long insisted that it stood apart from those two greenfield projects because it already had much of the necessary infrastructure in place as an existing racino. Both Metropolitan Park and the Bally\u2019s project have forecasted that they will open by 2030.<\/p>\n

The addition of 242 live table games represents the first stage of a $5.5 billion investment at Resorts World\u2019s South Ozone Park site, which includes plans to build a 7,000-seater entertainment venue, a new hotel and more than 12 acres of public open space. The company plans to eventually increase the number of table games at the integrated South Ozone Park resort to 800, with plans to increase the total number of slot machines to 6,000.<\/p>\n

\"LiveLive gaming tables at New York City\u2019s first commercial casino. Photo by Shane O\u2019Brien.<\/p>\n

Resorts World has also committed a $2 billion community benefits package as part of the project, with plans to build 50,000 units of workforce housing across the five boroughs.<\/p>\n

A slew of elected officials praised Resorts World for being a steadfast partner to the local community since opening its Aqueduct racino in 2011 during Tuesday\u2019s ribbon-cutting, which was awash with gambling-related puns. They also welcomed news that Resorts World has created 1,250 jobs over the past four months, taking its total workforce to over 2,200.<\/p>\n

Council Member Ty Hankerson, representing the 28th Council District, praised Resorts World for standing with the local community in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy and throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey opened the largest essential worker testing site in Queens, ensuring democracy and the power of our vote were accessible,\u201d Hankerson said at Tuesday\u2019s ribbon-cutting.\n<\/p>\n

Assemblymember Stacey Pheffer Amato said Resorts World had received overwhelming community support throughout the process to obtain a gaming license in recent years.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cPerson after person, organization after organization, stood up to give their testimony on behalf of the great work of Resorts World New York City,\u201d Pheffer Amato said Tuesday.
\n\"AssemblyAssembly Member Stacey Pheffer Amato. Photo by Shane O\u2019Brien.\n<\/p>\n

Pheffer Amato, who has announced that she will not seek reelection later this year, said the Resorts World casino would bring both jobs and entertainment to South Ozone Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be so much more than we can all imagine,\u201d she said, adding that she plans to visit the new live tables on the third floor of the casino later in the year.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess I have to spill the tea on myself. I\u2019m a person who might be on the third floor,\u201d Pheffer Amato said.\n<\/p>\n

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said Tuesday\u2019s ribbon-cutting represented a \u201cmomentous step forward\u201d in boosting the economic vitality of southeast Queens.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have hit the jackpot in Queens,\u201d Richards said.\n<\/p>\n

Richards praised Resorts World for reflecting the diversity of Queens in its hirings, stating that the casino would provide local residents with \u201cpathways\u201d to upward mobility.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to thank this team for being reflective of Queens on behalf of our 2.4 million people,\u201d Richards said. \u201cAnd we can say that Queens is a union town because Resorts World was built union.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"LimLim cut the ribbon at Resorts World on Tuesday morning. Photo by Shane O\u2019Brien.<\/p>\n

Richards also professed that he is \u201cnot a gambling man\u201d and encouraged anyone who gambles at Resorts World to do so responsibly.<\/p>\n

Announcing the Gaming Commission\u2019s decision to award three licenses last December, Commission Brian O\u2019Dwyer said all three bids represented\u00a0thousands of \u201cgood, union jobs\u201d for Queens and the Bronx.<\/p>\n

However, O\u2019Dwyer said the awarding of the license was contingent on each bid agreeing to sign a monitoring agreement with an independent third-party to ensure that the projects \u201cdo not deviate\u201d from standards required by the state. The third-party monitor, which must be approved by the Commission, will also be responsible for ensuring that each project delivers on substantial community promises over the next five years.<\/p>\n

Those promises also include a commitment to addressing problem gambling and adhering to responsible gambling practices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Live table games have officially arrived in New York City after Resorts World New York City cut the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":213272,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2026,1459,83241,310,84136,84137,605,9,11,10,5477,9437],"class_list":{"0":"post-213271","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-casino","9":"tag-casinos","10":"tag-commercial-casino","11":"tag-daily-newsletter","12":"tag-downstate-gaming-licenses","13":"tag-live-table-games","14":"tag-nas","15":"tag-new-york","16":"tag-new-york-headlines","17":"tag-new-york-news","18":"tag-resorts-world","19":"tag-south-ozone-park"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}