Metro

Cuomo bets on bid to legalize casinos

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ALBANY — Roulette and blackjack could be coming to a neighborhood near you.

Gov. Cuomo yesterday said he’s considering a roll of the dice when it comes to opening commercial casinos in New York state, with his administration “actively” looking into expanding the gambling industry and taking on the legal hurdles such a move would face.

“You have gaming in the state and, by the way, you have gaming in neighboring states,” Cuomo said after he was asked about casinos during a press conference at the state Capitol. “If there is going to be gaming, how should it be done? . . . It is a topic that we are looking at actively.”

The state currently has Indian casinos and racinos, including electronic slot machines at eight racetracks. But Cuomo said it’s time for a more comprehensive plan that could include large commercial casinos.

“The gaming issue is an issue this state has to come to grips with,” Cuomo said, adding that casinos might not require a constitutional amendment to open.

State lawmakers suggested that it’s time for New York to get in the game.

“The fact is that it is available to New Yorkers both in Native American casinos and in casinos in New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, so we might as well be in that business and keep the money in New York,” said Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan), who noted he generally opposes legalized gambling.

Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-LI) “believes this has the potential for economic-development opportunities, and he would be supportive of a constitutional amendment to let the people decide,” said spokesman Mark Hansen.

Silver also predicted a “difficult” vote in the Assembly; the Legislature has yet to put a proposed constitutional amendment to allow commercial casinos before state voters.

The operators of racinos at Aqueduct, Yonkers and Monticello expressed strong support for legalizing non-Indian casinos.

“Resorts World New York fully supports creating thousands of new jobs across the state by giving consumers more choices,” said Stefan Friedman, a spokesman for Aqueduct’s operator, Genting Resorts World New York.

But the head of a statewide anti-gambling group likened allowing commercial casinos to legalizing drugs or prostitution.

“It’s the most shallow kind of thinking: It’s here to stay, so we should profit from it,” said Joel Rose, who chairs the Coalition Against Gambling in New York

“I had just hoped for better leadership from Governor Cuomo.”

Operators of the state’s Indian casinos weren’t happy about the potential competition.

Mark Emery, a spokesman for the Oneida Indian Nation, which operates Turning Stone near Syracuse, said New York would do better to partner with the Indian casinos to “bring gaming to the state promptly, and assuredly under already-existing laws.”