New York City Casinos Might Not Come Until 2026

State Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow, head of the state’s racing and gaming commission believes politics is getting in the way of issuing three downstate casino licenses, including the New York City area and its five boroughs as well as the populous Westchester and Rockland Counties.

“It depends on the mood of the political class,” Pretlow told SportsBoom.com in an exclusive interview. “If they want to do it, it could be October of this year. If not, it’ll be January of ’26. Rumor has it that Governor (Kathy) Hochul wants to do it in her re-election year, which is 2026."

Pretlow says that the licensing fees and taxes on casino winnings would result in up to $1 billion in revenues annually for the Empire State.

A total of 17 entities have expressed interest in acquiring those licenses and have submitted a first round of questions to the state gaming board, which has answered those questions. A second round of questions also has been submitted, but those answers are on hold indefinitely, which has brought the process to a halt.

“I have a solution,” Pretlow said.  “But if they (the governor and her cronies) don’t want to do it, it won’t happen, and I don’t know why. I told her ‘We could bring in $1 billion right now,’ and she said ‘no.’

Pretlow said the leading candidates for the three licenses are MGM Resorts, which owns the Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway, Malaysian-based Genting Inc., which owns Aqueduct Racetrack, and New York Mets owner Steve Cohen, who wants to build a casino complex on the footprint of the old Shea Stadium alongside City Field in Queens.

“The only ones I know are not dropping out are MGM, Genting and Cohen,” Pretlow said.

Top companies have submitted their own proposals.

SportsBoom reports that the Hard Rock has taken over the gambling component of a proposed Times Square casino from Caesars but that has been met with opposition from the theatre community while Las Vegas Sands is targetting a casino at Nassau Coliseum in Nassau County.  They too are being met with community opposition.

Wynn Gaming is trying to out a casino at the Hudson Yards complex on the West Side of Manhattan, but the proposal is still in its infancy and has not gotten past the drawing of architectural plans.

Bally’s has taken over ownership of the former Trump Links golf course in the Bronx with an eye toward building a casino there.

Every company trying to build a casino also must complete environmental impact reviews, which are time-consuming and have been held up by the delays coming from the state capital in Albany.

Under state law, applications must be submitted within 30 days of the gaming commission responding to the second set of questions posed by the gaming companies. About 40 such questions have been submitted, and there is no timetable as to when a response will be forthcoming.

“The gaming commission does not want to answer those questions because they so not want the clock to start,” Pretlow said. “It has been eight months and they are prepared to wait another year.

“So what I am trying to do to speed up the process is to get legislation written by June 6 to get responses to those questions out so that everyone can get their applications in, and the bidding starts from there,” Pretlow said, adding that Genting has already made it known that they are willing to pay $1 billion rather than the mandated $500 million in order to secure one of the three licenses.

“Even if they don’t issue the actual licenses, we will know who is in the game,” Pretlow said. “The legislation will force the gaming commission to answer the companies’ questions.”

Pretlow wasn't prepared to set an over or under when progress might finally be made.

“Genting is ready to be up and running. They say it will take up to six months; I believe it’ll take them about six days. They built that casino at Aqueduct practically overnight working double shifts, and I imagine they will just bring in experienced dealers and be in business quickly. The floor plan for converting to a casino is already laid out,” Pretlow said, adding that MGM has similar floor plans for Empire City Casino on hold.