{"id":56611,"date":"2025-11-30T22:35:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-30T22:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/56611\/"},"modified":"2025-11-30T22:35:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T22:35:08","slug":"nyc-official-will-bet-both-queens-casinos-get-the-ok-day-before-make-or-break-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/56611\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC official will ‘bet’ both Queens casinos get the OK day before make-or-break vote"},"content":{"rendered":"

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards <\/a>predicted both planned casinos in the World\u2019s Borough will get licenses when bidders face a make-or-break vote on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel confident. I feel bullish. Bet on Queens,\u201d Richards said Sunday, a day before the New York Gaming Facility Location board is set to decide whether to issue up to three downstate casino licenses \u2014 with two bidders pitching locations in Queens.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy go to Manhattan? You can stay in Queens! Queens becomes a global entertainment hub,\u201d Richards said.<\/p>\n

Illustration of Resorts World casino at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York. AP<\/p>\n

New York Mets owner Steve Cohen is leading a group that wants to build a gaming complex near Citi Field while Genting\u2019s Resorts World is bidding for a casino at Aqueduct race track.<\/p>\n

Bally\u2019s is also bidding for a casino complex at Ferry Point, President Trump\u2019s former golf course in The Bronx.<\/p>\n

The proposed $8 billion Cohen-Hard Rock Metropolitan Park <\/a>casino complex would be a tourist magnet and an economic multiplier next to the US Tennis Center, new soccer stadium and the Mets home stadium, Richards said.<\/p>\n

He said Resorts World, which has operated a slots parlor for more than a decade, can offer live table games within months because they already have the space to do so. The expanded complex <\/a>with community benefits is worth $7.5 billion.<\/p>\n

Both bidders will build concert halls for added entertainment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel confident. I feel bullish. Bet on Queens,\u201d Richards said. Gabriella Bass<\/p>\n

The proposed $8 billion Cohen-Hard Rock Metropolitan Park casino complex would be a tourist magnet. Hard Rock International<\/p>\n

Both sites are close to the borough\u2019s two airports \u2014 Metropolitan Park near LaGuardia and Resorts World near Kennedy.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Bally\u2019s $4 billion bid has strong support from <\/a>the Bronx Democratic Party elected officials, though it has faced some stiff neighborhood opposition.<\/p>\n

Bally\u2019s chairman Soo Kim told The Post Saturday he believes his chances of scoring a license \u201clooks pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe put our best effort out there,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t think we have any weak spots.\u201d<\/p>\n

New York Mets owner Steve Cohen (left) is leading a group that wants to build a gaming complex near Citi Field. James Keivom<\/p>\n

Bally\u2019s acquired the golf course <\/a>at Ferry Point from the Trump Organization in 2023, and it\u2019s now called Bally\u2019s Golf Links at Ferry Point. It is on the Bronx side of the Whitestone Bridge that connects with Queens.<\/p>\n

As part of the deal, Bally\u2019s agreed to provide the Trump Organization an additional $115 million \u2014 if it wins a casino license.<\/p>\n

The Gaming Facility Location Board is evaluating each project based on criteria set in state law. Economic activity and business development accounts for 70% of the grade, 10% for location site impact \u2014 and 20% combines for workforce enhancement and diversity framework.<\/p>\n

Casino applicants each need to pay $500 million license fees to operate \u2013 which would go into the cash-strapped state\u2019s coffers \u2014 as well commit to at least $500 million in capital investments on their projects.<\/p>\n

Some of the proceeds from gaming operators will help fund mass transit.<\/p>\n

Bally\u2019s agreed to provide the Trump Organization an additional $115 million \u2014 if it wins a casino license. James Messerschmidt<\/p>\n

A pool of what was once 11 bidders has dwindled to three \u2013 but there\u2019s no guarantee each of the survivors will get licenses because the five-member board doesn\u2019t have to award any.<\/p>\n

But many Albany insiders said the immediate cash from the licenses will spur the state to award as many as 3.<\/p>\n

The state Gaming Commission will have final say, ratifying or rejecting the awards made by the siting board by year\u2019s end.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Queens Borough President Donovan Richards predicted both planned casinos in the World\u2019s Borough will get licenses when bidders…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":56612,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[28060,288,1459,2031,57,9,24,63,87,122,124,123,3929,4463,58],"class_list":{"0":"post-56611","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-aqueduct","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-casinos","11":"tag-citi-field","12":"tag-metro","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-city","15":"tag-nyc","16":"tag-politics","17":"tag-queens","18":"tag-queens-headlines","19":"tag-queens-news","20":"tag-steve-cohen","21":"tag-trump-golf-links-at-ferry-point","22":"tag-us-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56611","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=56611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}