US News

Slot machines could be coming to JFK

Against long odds, the state Senate quietly inserted a provision in its state budget plan to allow slot machines at Kennedy Airport, The Post has learned.

The measure would put the slots in the departure areas where travelers waiting to board flights would be a captive audience.

The provision is buried in the Senate’s budget resolution, which says it wants to “allow VLTs [Video Lottery Terminals or slots] at International Airport Departure Terminals located within a city of a million or more.”

JFK is an international airport; LaGuardia serves mostly domestic flights.

New York voters just approved a referendum last fall to allow up to seven Vegas-style casinos in the state. The first four would be built upstate.

Currently, the VLTs regulated by the Gaming Commission are only permitted at the state’s nine racetrack betting parlors — including Aqueduct’s Resorts World not far from Kennedy.

But Resorts World officials said they didn’t request the new gaming venue.

Queens leaders who represent the JFK neighborhood said they were blindsided by the plan.

State Sen. Joe Addabbo said he was never briefed and would oppose the move.

“Let’s not get crazy here. We don’t need to put slot machines in every nook and cranny — even the airport,” Addabbo said.

“This proposal will end up where a lot of other budget ideas end up — in the graveyard.”

Other community leaders were perplexed.

“There’s been no discussions about having slot machines at the airport whatsoever — not with me,” said Queens Community Board chairwoman Betty Bratton, whose district covers JFK and Aqueduct. “There’s been no discussion whatsoever.”

Bratton suggested the proposal must have been put in as a favor to someone. “This must be someone’s bargaining chip,” she said.

The state Senate leadership had no immediate comment.

The airport gambling plan must also be approved by the state Assembly and Gov. Andrew Cuomo — and the odds are long that that will happen.

A Cuomo spokesman called the JFK slots plan “a non-starter.”