$PIN THE WHEEL: Gov. Cuomo and Oneida Indian Nation leader Ray Halbritter sign upstate-casino deal yesterday. (AP)
ALBANY — Nassau and Suffolk county officials are pushing Gov. Cuomo to allow slot machines on Long Island as part of his plan to expand legalized gambling in the state.
Cuomo’s response? No dice.
Joseph G. Cairo, president and CEO of Nassau Off-Track Betting Corp., said the campaign to get state authorization for video slots at Nassau off-track-betting sites is part of a “multifaceted plan” to offer the public a “wider range of gaming options.”
While both counties for years have been lobbying for the proposal, Cuomo spokesman Matthew Wing said the idea wasn’t being discussed as part of casino-gambling talks with legislative leaders.
But GOP Sen. Dean Skelos of Nassau, the co-head of the state Senate, supports video slots at Belmont Park racetrack.
A spokesman said Skelos has had conversations with Nassau and Suffolk officials about offering slots and is reviewing a bill sponsored by two Long Island lawmakers, Democratic Assemblyman Steven Englebright and Republican Sen. Phil Boyle, promoting the issue.
The measure specifies that such a facility would include “superior consumer amenities and conveniences to encourage and attract the patronage of tourists and other visitors from across the region, state and nation.”
Cuomo’s vision to bring Las Vegas-style casinos to the Empire State includes putting three upstate but none in the Big Apple and its suburbs for at least five years. He argues that downstate casinos “would be eating at the buffet table of an upstate casino.”
Cuomo’s plan also calls for letting a gambling commission — not the Legislature — choose vendors and the sites. A video-slot-machine casino run by Nassau and Suffolk OTBs would allow the Legislature to keep control of patronage jobs at such a gambling emporium.
The state’s existing nine racinos, which offer video slot machines and electronic table games without live dealers, have grown quickly. Racino operators say it makes the most sense to expand their facilities into full-fledged, Vegas-style casinos.
The Resorts World Aqueduct racino in Queens has generated more than $1 billion in total revenue since opening in October 2011, pulling in nearly $2 million a day.
From April 2012 to April 2013, Resorts World posted an impressive, 17 percent revenue increase.
In comparison, slot revenues slid 14 percent in Atlantic City, NJ, and 7 percent in Connecticut and declined for a fifth straight month in Pennsylvania.
“Resorts World Casino has been nothing short of an absolute success for the Queens community,” said Democratic State Sen. James Sanders.
Meanwhile, Cuomo struck a deal with the Oneida Indian Nation to give it exclusive casino rights in central New York in exchange for the state treasury’s receiving 25 percent of slot revenue from the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona. The deal also settles a decades-old land dispute.
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