Gov. Cuomo has placed his bet on a $4 billion convention center at the Aqueduct Raceway that would feature expanded gambling operations at the site.
And, as he recently told The Post’s editorial board, the developers would move forward even without any guarantees about gambling in the state.
Only one problem: The developers say . . .not quite.
“This will bring to New York the largest events, driving demand for hotel rooms and restaurant meals and creating tax revenues and jobs, jobs, jobs,’’ Cuomo asserted last month. “We will make New York the No. 1 convention site in the nation.’’
He said that Genting, the Asia-based firm that runs the new quasi-casino — “racino” — at Aqueduct and wants to build the convention-center complex, is willing to move forward even if Las Vegas-style table gambling isn’t part of the mix — and even if the company doesn’t get explicit rights to run casinos in the city.
But officials from Genting last week told The Post’s editorial board that it will need additional “protection” from competitors to move forward.
Sure, everybody’s holding their cards close to the vest. That’s to be expected.
But everyone also knows that the fate of the project rests on the prospect of new betting revenues — more slot machines at the racino, at the least, and perhaps table games down the road, should the state Constitution ever be amended to allow such a thing. Without those revenues, the project’s economics simply don’t add up.
Genting made it clear that, absent express rights to a gambling monopoly in its “market area,” there “is no way” it can proceed with a $4 billion project.
That’s a big deal.
For starters, handing over such rights would be a significant concession by the state. And Cuomo certainly has downplayed that part — to put it mildly.
It’s perfectly legitimate for Genting to seek to shut out competition.
Anyone dumping that kind of loot into a project that sinks or swims on its gambling revenues isn’t going to want another casino opening up next door.
But the public needs to know fully just what’s being contemplated — and what New Yorkers will be asked to give up.
That’s especially true when the debate over amending the Constitution to permit full-fledged casino gambling begins in earnest.
Cuomo’s aides, for their part, insist that few changes are needed for the company to proceed. They note that Genting already has de facto exclusive rights to gambling operations in the area, since no other racino has been authorized.
But the difference between de facto and de jure is profound; New York needs no surprises in that regard.
Time to lay all the cards on the table.