{"id":2991,"date":"2025-10-15T05:51:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T05:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/2991\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T05:51:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T05:51:10","slug":"after-community-approval-mgm-suddenly-withdraws-nyc-area-casino-bid-cdc-gaming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/2991\/","title":{"rendered":"After community approval, MGM suddenly withdraws NYC-area casino bid \u2014 CDC Gaming"},"content":{"rendered":"

MGM Resorts International announced Tuesday afternoon it is withdrawing its commercial casino license application submitted to the New York State Gaming Commission and Gaming Facility Location Board. MGM had been seeking the license to expand its Empire City property in Yonkers, just north of New York City, from racing and slots into a full-service casino.<\/p>\n

MGM\u2019s was one of four remaining bids for up to three casino licenses the state is planning to award by year\u2019s end. At one point the field contained eleven bidders, but three withdrew before the application deadline and four more were vetoed by community advisory committees.<\/p>\n

Just three weeks ago, a community advisory committee unanimously approved the MGM project, sending the bid to the location board along with surviving bids from Bally\u2019s in the Bronx, Resorts World New York City in Queens, and Mets owner Steve Cohen\u2019s Metropolitan Park development, which includes a Hard Rock casino adjacent to Citi Field, also in Queens.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, MGM Resorts made the difficult decision to withdraw its application for a commercial casino license in Yonkers, New York,\u201d the company said in a statement. \u201cSince 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe newly defined competitive landscape \u2013 with four proposals clustered in a small geographic area \u2013 challenges the returns we initially anticipated from this project,\u201d MGM said. \u201cAlso, our proposal to renovate and expand Empire City Casino was predicated on the receipt of a 30-year commercial casino license, but based on newly issued guidance from the state of New York, we now expect to qualify for only a 15-year license. Taken together, these events result in a proposition that no longer aligns with our commitment to capital stewardship, nor to that of our real estate partner in Yonkers, VICI.\u201d<\/p>\n

MGM said in its statement that it has been a proud partner of the city of Yonkers and the state of New York since it purchased Empire City Casino in 2019. The property has generated more than $5 billion for New York state education, including $1.6 billion under its ownership.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know our decision will impact many individuals; we remain committed to operating the property in its current format and believe it will continue to enjoy success serving customers in Yonkers and the surrounding communities,\u201d MGM said.<\/p>\n

Tuesday was a deadline for the remaining bidders to submit supplemental information to the board, including proposed tax rates<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Yonkers Times reported that Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano called the decision by MGM \u201ca betrayal of the people of Yonkers and Westchester County.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his statement, Spano said, \u201cI am calling on Governor (Kathy) Hochul to launch an independent investigation into this process, because the reasons MGM gives for its 180-degree reversal just don\u2019t add up.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a secret that the big winner\u201d from this reversal will be Bally\u2019s proposal for a casino at the former Trump Links in the Bronx, Spano said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s also no secret that Bally\u2019s has a deal with Donald Trump that they will pay him an additional $115 million if they can open a casino there,\u201d Spano said. \u201cPeople need to be assured that there is no linkage between MGM\u2019s decision and the massive financial benefit to Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people of Yonkers deserve to know if this process was tainted or manipulated in any way. MGM has publicly acknowledged that Empire City cannot survive without a full gaming license, so why are they signing their own death warrant?<\/p>\n

\u201cMGM\u2019s blaming the New York state government for their withdrawal rings hollow. The same rules apply to the other bidders. Why aren\u2019t they pulling out as well?\u201d<\/p>\n

With only three bidders left for up to three licenses, the only suspense remaining in the drawn-out process to build full casinos in downstate New York is about how many licenses the state will award. Resorts World and MGM Empire City already offer slots and horse racing. Bally\u2019s and Metropolitan Park are proposals for brand-new facilities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MGM Resorts International announced Tuesday afternoon it is withdrawing its commercial casino license application submitted to the New…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2992,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3587,3107,9,24,56,63,65,64],"class_list":{"0":"post-2991","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-expansion","9":"tag-mgm","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-city","12":"tag-ny","13":"tag-nyc","14":"tag-nyc-headlines","15":"tag-nyc-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2991","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=2991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}