New York: State Panel Begins Review of Casino License Candidates

The cards are on the table, and now it’s up to a five-member board to decide which of the four downstate casino proposals will receive a gaming license.

The state’s Gaming Facility Location Board met for the first time on Wednesday to consider the final casino applications for highly lucrative state licenses. It is this board, with expertise in banking, economic development and housing, that will submit final recommendations on who gets a license. That decision is then ratified by the state Gaming Commission.

The deliberations will occur behind closed doors, and the board is not expected to take any more public testimony after months of public hearings on each of the applications.

“One of the things we have to look at is, ‘What is the overall financial picture? ‘What kind of revenue are they going to be bringing into the state based on a dynamic financial analysis of how they are going to interact?” Vicki Been, the board’s chair, said.

Been was a deputy mayor under the de Blasio administration.

She said the board will evaluate each applicant based on strict criteria. The most important factor being how much revenue and economic development the casino would generate.

“How realistic is their plan for what they are going to construct and how quickly are they going to construct that and be up and running?” she asked.

After a years-long process, only four applicants made it to the final stage.

They include Resorts World in Queens and MGM Empire City in Yonkers, which already operate video slot machines. Bally’s in the Bronx and Metropolitan Park in Queens, pitched by Mets owner Steve Cohen, are also under consideration.

The board has up to three licenses to award.

“We can award up to three licenses,” Been said. “We don’t have to award any if we don’t think the applications bring sufficient revenue or are sufficiently well-developed.”

The board is expected to make its decision by Dec. 1.