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<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\t\tNas. Photo courtesy of Gee
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Inside, the scale of the expansion is unmistakable: more than 240 live dealer tables\u2014blackjack, roulette, baccarat, and craps\u2014join over 2,500 slot machines, drawing both seasoned gamblers and curious first-timers. Officials noted the property already welcomes more than five million visitors annually, a figure expected to climb as the new offerings take hold.\n<\/p>\n
But much of the morning\u2019s focus stayed grounded in Queens itself. Speaker after speaker emphasized what they described as a longstanding partnership between Resorts World and the surrounding community\u2014one built on workforce development, local hiring, and sustained investment.\n<\/p>\n
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards called the opening \u201cyears in the making,\u201d highlighting union job creation and economic opportunity. \u201cThis is about pathways to prosperity,\u201d he said, pointing to thousands of jobs and the promise of upward mobility for local residents.\n<\/p>\n
Also present at the ceremony were NYS Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato and former City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, as well as NYC Councilwoman Joann Ariola, along with a broad roster of officials, community leaders, and stakeholders from across Queens and New York City.\n<\/p>\n
The event\u2019s program reflected a wide coalition of civic and government participation, with attendees spanning local, city, and state representation gathered on stage for the ribbon cutting and subsequent ceremonial activities marking the opening of Resorts World New York City\u2019s expanded gaming operations.\n<\/p>\n
Resorts World executives echoed that sentiment, repeatedly returning to the themes of \u201ccommunity\u201d and \u201cpartnership\u201d as the foundation of the project. They highlighted investments in local organizations, workforce pipelines, and a workforce that is largely drawn from Queens and the five boroughs, with strong representation from communities of color and women.\n<\/p>\n
President Robert DeSalvio called the opening \u201ca milestone years in the making,\u201d noting that more than 1250 new jobs were created in just months following licensure. Looking ahead, he outlined broader ambitions: a 7000-seat entertainment venue, expanded hotel capacity, public green space, and billions in projected tax revenue for education, transit, and state programs.\n<\/p>\n
Chairman KT Lim, addressing the crowd, framed the opening as just the beginning. \u201cWhen we build, we do not build and walk away,\u201d he said. \u201cWe invest, and we stay.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Another major player in this development, Kevin Jones, the Resorts World strategy chief & legal officer, described the project as more than just the state\u2019s first commercial casino, calling it \u201ca tectonic shift\u201d in New York\u2019s entertainment landscape. He said it would effectively move the center of gaming and entertainment in the city into the facility itself, underscoring its scale and regional impact.\n<\/p>\n
After the formal program, the crowd was led upstairs to the third-floor gaming hall for the ceremonial first roll. The mood shifted from civic ceremony to full-on spectacle \u2014 lights flashing, Vegas-style show girls, drum corps, chips clacking, and anticipation building as guests gathered around the tables. In a moment that blended Queens swagger with casino theatrics, the dice were cast, greeted by cheers and a soundtrack befitting the borough \u2013 Nas took the stage to give the crowd one of his rap performances and an unmistakable anthem echoing the sentiment of the day: Queens get the money.\n<\/p>\n
For many in attendance, the symbolism was clear. What began as a local development project has evolved into a centerpiece of New York City\u2019s entertainment and economic landscape\u2014one that aims to keep the action \u2013 and the revenue \u2013 closer to home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With a snip of the ribbon and a roll of the dice, New York City officially entered a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":235712,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-235711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235711","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=235711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235711\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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