New York will be introducing a number of new casinos across the Empire State, with three planned for NYC, two in Queens, and one in the Bronx.
What this means is that there will be a lot more gaming floors up north from New Jersey, which is something the Garden State cannot leave unanswered, seeing how it relies on its casino industry to generate a substantial chunk of revenue.
Atlantic City Calmly Indifferent to Events – A Mistake, Says Local Lawmaker
To this end, Sen. Joe Pennacchio is pitching a new plan to introduce a new casino. The plan is simple enough – add slot machines to the Meadowlands Racetrack and stem any potential outflow of New Jersey residents going up north to play.
Sen. Pennacchio is worried that inaction would prove too costly: “New Jersey continues to sit on its hands. Putting a racino in the Meadowlands would generate tons of cash for strapped New Jersey, and I think the taxpayers deserve that to be looked at.”
However, a single stop on the way north to six brand-new properties may not be enough to plug all the holes in New Jersey’s gambling strategy. Still, Sen. Pennachio argues that the state has been lackluster in its response to events up north.
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He has said that the industry and lawmakers are often seen as too frightened to change something in the existing framework lest it lead to a dip in revenue, but at the same time, Atlantic City has appeared indifferent to the major developments in New York.
“Atlantic City is complaining it doesn’t want to be cannibalized by any other efforts in New Jersey. And yet you look at the surrounding states, they’re doing all the cannibalization as we speak right now,” the senator explained.
However, Sen. Pennachio’s proposal, as aware of the problem as it may be, is not guaranteed to help safeguard precious tax revenue against the appeal of multi-billion-dollar projects set to arrive up north.