Yonkers Mayor Pushes State to Speed Up Casino Licenses as Rivals Drop Out

Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano has called on state officials to act now and grant full casino licenses to MGM Empire City in Yonkers and Resorts World New York at Aqueduct. This comes after the latest hiccup in New York City’s plans for casino growth. Spano claims these projects can start right away and have strong backing from their communities.

Spano Pushes for Fast-Track Approval of Yonkers and Queens Casinos

Spano made his appeal after Related Companies and Wynn Resorts pulled out of their plan to build a casino in Hudson Yards on Manhattan’s West Side. This withdrawal comes on the heels of Las Vegas Sands’ decision to scrap its proposal for a casino near the Nassau Coliseum. With many other bids facing tough opposition from locals, the mayor stressed the importance of focusing on places that are already up and running and can quickly turn into full-fledged casinos.

Spano says MGM and Genting, who run the Yonkers and Queens racinos, can pay the state $2 billion in licensing fees right away. He points out that both places could start bringing in hundreds of millions in new tax money soon after getting the green light. He makes the case that the state should move now to deal with expected budget gaps caused by less federal money instead of waiting until the end of the year, as they plan to do now.

Spano Highlights Billions in Revenue and Jobs If Yonkers Casino Gains Full License

Spano pointed out that if the Yonkers facility got a full casino license, it would bring a lot of money and job benefits. The numbers show that Yonkers would get $34 million each year — $15 million more than now — and create over 2,000 new jobs, making the casino’s staff three times bigger. In ten years, the city could get $340 million more in gaming tax money, while Westchester County could get about $170 million during the same period.

The mayor called MGM’s Empire City and Genting’s Resorts World two of the top-performing regional casinos in the US. MGM bought the Yonkers site in 2019 and has since given over $5 billion to New York’s K-12 public schools. Genting has promised to invest $5 billion to improve its Queens location and pay $1 billion in taxes if it gets one of the licenses.

Spano proposed that the state should go ahead with these two projects right away and put off giving out the third downstate license until later. He warned that sticking to the current schedule, which pushes final choices to December, would lead to missing out on economic benefits, jobs, and tax money that could be gained sooner.