New York City Gets First Full Casino; iGaming Eyed Again In Albany
A New York City slots-only casino is set to begin offering Las Vegas-style live table games on Tuesday, April 28. This makes Resorts World New York the first full-fledged casino in the nation’s most-populated city.
On Tuesday, hip-hop performer NAS is scheduled to join Genting Chairman K.T. Lim and others for a ribbon-cutting ceremony and ceremonial throw of the first dice at the resort near the Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens.
Meanwhile, lawmakers at the state Capitol in Albany are considering legislation that would legalize online casino gambling, known as iGaming, statewide. This would allow bettors to play traditional casino games such as craps, blackjack and poker for real money on cellphones and computers from anywhere in New York. Across the state, online sports betting already is legal.
Three Full Casinos Slated For New York City
Pending final approval from state gaming regulations, Resorts World will offer 240 table games on a “reimagined third floor” that will include blackjack, craps, baccarat and roulette, in addition to “thousands of slot machines with various multi-million dollar jackpots,” the company said in a statement. Queens, where the resort is located, is one of New York City's five boroughs.
“Llive table games will be open and operating right here in Queens for the first time in the history of New York City," said Robert DeSalvio, president of Genting Americas East.
Resorts World's parent company, Malaysia-based Genting, already has 2,200 workers at the New York property and is expected to add another 500 by this summer.
Late last year, Resorts World, a slots-only parlor since 2011, was one of three bidders to be awarded a full-casino license, allowing live table games.
The other two license holders will have to construct casinos from the ground up, which could take years to complete. They are:
- A proposed gaming complex by New York Mets owner Steve Cohen and Hard Rock International at Metropolitan Park near Citi Field, home of the Mets, in Flushing, Queens.
- A proposed hotel-casino by Bally’s Corp. at Ferry Point in Throggs Neck in the Bronx on property once the site of President Trump’s golf course.
Online Casino Gaming Bills Under Review At Legislature
Among those who pushed for legalization of live table games at the Resorts World property is state Sen. Joseph Addabbo, D-Queens.
Addabbo, who chairs the state Senate Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee, also has introduced Senate Bill 2614 to authorize interactive gaming (iGaming) and interactive lottery gaming in New York. He has indicated that iGaming could generate $1 billion annually in tax revenue for the state.
An Assembly version, A6027, has been introduced in that chamber. Both bills have been awaiting a hearing in committee since Jan. 7.
Like any bill under consideration in Albany, both legislative chambers would need to approve iGaming before sending it to Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul for her consideration. The legislative session is set to end on June 4. Previous efforts to approve iGaming at the New York Legislature have been unsuccessful.
Currently, iGaming is legal in eight states from Michigan to Maine, according to the American Gaming Association. It is legal in three states that border New York. Those states are Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut.
In other parts of the country, iGaming has been slow to catch on in part because brick-and-mortar casino operators are concerned online gaming will cut down on casino visitors who spend money on food, entertainment and other on-site offerings. However, an iGaming proposal is under consideration in Arkansas, where Saracen hotel-casino in Pine Bluff is seeking to legalize iGaming only on the property.
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