The free-for-all battle for up to three new casino licenses in New York had its first applicant advance past its local community advisory committee, a critical stage that has already eliminated all three proposals for Manhattan.
The committee on Thursday gave unanimous approval to Empire City Casino by MGM Resorts in Yonkers, just north of New York City. A similar vote will be held on Thursday afternoon to consider a bid from Resorts World at the Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens.
Both Resorts World and Empire City Casino, which operates alongside Yonkers Raceway, have been considered the front-runners for full casino licenses because they already offer some gambling.
If both receive approval from the committees, the casino bids will next be voted on in December by the state’s Gaming Facility Location Board and later that month by the Gaming Commission.
Unlike the Manhattan bids, the Yonkers proposal received a full-throated recommendation from the committee members. The committees, which take into account local support for a project, must approve a casino plan for it to remain in consideration for a license.
“It will undoubtedly be a successful project and casino for years to come, not only for Yonkers, but for the entire region,” said Frank Jereis, a member of the committee that reviewed the MGM Empire City bid.
The members of the Yonkers committee said that while the community had voiced legitimate concerns, mainly about policing and potential flooding at the site, those concerns should not derail the $2.3 billion project, which would redevelop the existing facility into a larger gambling and entertainment venue.
The Empire City Casino brought in thousands of electronic gambling machines in 2006, adding games alongside a racetrack that first opened in 1899. MGM Resorts International bought the facility from its longtime owners, the Rooney family, in 2019.
Matthew Haag is a Times reporter covering the New York City economy and the intersection of real estate and politics in the region.
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