A controversial Alabama gambling operator who boasts of his ties to Al Sharpton wants to open a $400 million resort casino at Stewart Airport — just 60 miles north of the Big Apple.
Luther “Nat” Winn, CEO of Greenetrack Inc., serves as a board member of Sharpton’s National Action Network.
“As a board member of the National Action Network, he continues to support the fight for justice and equality for all,” Greenetrack’s literature says of Winn, who was active in the civil rights movement.
Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange last month raided Greenetrack’s gambling parlor in Eutaw and other facilities in an ongoing legal dispute on whether its ”electronic bingo” games were legal. Winn insists Greenetrack is following the law.
Greenetrack — which currently operates one gambling parlor and racetrack in Alabama — would have to find financing for what would be the largest project it has ever undertaken: an 80,000-square-foot casino, a 350-bed hotel, two restaurants, a convention center, and an entertainment space for concerts.
Greenetrack has strong New York political connections. Charlie King, a former executive director at both Sharpton’s NAN and the state Democratic Party, is a Greenetrack lobbyist. Juanita Scarlett, a member of Al D’Amato’s Park Strategies firm who used to work for Mario Cuomo and Eliot Spitzer, is the group’s publicist.
For his part, Sharpton, in a recent Post interview, insisted he had nothing to do with Winn’s New York gambling venture and was not playing holy roller for a casino.
“I don’t know anything about that,” Sharpton said of Greenetrack’s casino bid. “They haven’t talked to me about it.”
The Town of Windsor in Orange County and Greenetrack are negotiating a 99-year lease agreement to develop the 140-acre site for a casino.
“We’re excited about the prospect of developing at Stewart Airport in Orange County. We believe Greenetrack’s model and history of spurring economic development in the communities that we serve, will go a long way to help New York’s economy,” Winn said.
Greenetrack said the resort casino would create 1,800 construction jobs and 2,500 permanent jobs.
“We’re thrilled to partner with Greenetrack to bring a premier casino operation to New Windsor,” said James Petro, executive director of the Orange County Industrial Development Authority. “We appreciate the substantial investment that Greenetrack is making in our town, and we’re committed to seeing this project through completion.”
Petro told The Post that the Greenetrack proposal is for real. “They told me they have investors. They’re not fooling around. They’re very professional,” he said.
Greenetrack must pay a $1 million non-refundable application fee by April 23. Should it pass muster with the New York Gaming Commission, it would have to pay a $70 million license fee to open a casino at Stewart.
Petro said as many as 50 people are working on the project for Greenetrack.
A new law approved by the Legislature and voters last year allows new Vegas-style casinos to open upstate, including in the Orange County/Catskills/Hudson Valley region.