NYC approves three new super-casinos that will bring in $1bn in taxes a year…with Trump
New York City is set to witness the construction of three glitzy new casinos, with Big Apple native Donald Trump among those guaranteed to win big as a result.
The New York Gaming Facility Location Board recommended that Hard Rock, Bally’s and Resorts World all receive licenses from the state’s gaming commission, which is the final hurdle before the casinos can open and begin operation.
Bally’s will open a new casino in the Bronx, with Hard Rock set to break ground in queens and Resorts World now poised to dramatically expand its existing location near JFK Airport.
Final licenses should be issued by New Year’s Eve.
Bally’s purchased the Bronx location for its proposed casino from the Trump Organization for $60million in 2023.
As part of the agreement, the president’s company will receive an additional $115million once the license has been officially approved.
New York will rake in cash from the three new casinos, as the state would bring in about $1.5billion from just the licensing fees.
The location board estimates that gaming tax revenue will reach $1billion per year by 2036, and will bring in a total of $7billion between 2027 and 2036.
Other taxes from hotels, entertainment and dining associated with the casinos are projected to bring in an additional $5.9billion.
The state has already factored an estimated $2billion of revenue in the MTA’s budget through 2029.
This architectural rendering is for the proposed Resorts World casino in South Queens, which received a recommendation for a license from the state’s gaming comission
This rendering is for the Bally’s casino, which also received a recommendation for a license
Bally’s plans to invest $4billion to build a casino and resort spanning 16 acres next to Bally’s Golf Links in the southeastern Bronx’s Ferry Point
The Hard Rock casino will be called Metropolitan Park, and it will be constructed in north Queens next to the Citi Field stadium
But anti-gambling advocates are outraged and say the casinos will wreak untold destruction on families who fall victim to gambling addictions.
The fierce competition for casino licenses in New York City began with eight players.
Some of the more high-profile contenders included proposals for a Caesars Palace in Times Square, a casino called The Avenir in Hudson Yards and a casino in Coney Island, which would have been appropriately named The Coney.
Opposition was particularly fierce in Manhattan, and eight separate community advisory boards, which are panels that evaluate local support, shot down four of the bids.
MGM made it to the final four with its proposal to renovate and expand its existing Empire City Casino and Yonkers Raceway, but it dropped its bid in October, saying the economics of three casinos competing for gamblers’ attention in the city no longer made sense for the company.
The winning bids were assessed on their economic benefit, job creation, diversity initiatives and impact on the local community by the New York Gaming Facility Location Board.
Board Chair Vicki Been said: ‘The board took very seriously, both concerns and the hopes of those who commented on the proposals.’
But right after the license recommendation announcement, members of the crowd at the City University of New York’s Graduate Center, where the board made its deliberations, chanted: ‘Shame on you!’
The Hard Rock casino will be constructed in partnership with billionaire Steve Cohen, who owns the New York Mets
The coalition against the Hard Rock casino released a public statement that said: ‘Governor Hochul’s Gaming Commission is giving the green light for Steve Cohen to squeeze hard earned wages from our immigrant communities at a time when affordability is the key issue in our city.
‘This casino will tear apart families, create gambling addiction, and increase crime and displacement. The tax revenue collected will come at the cost of the most vulnerable people in our community.’
The Hard Rock casino will be called Metropolitan Park, and it will be constructed in partnership with billionaire Steve Cohen, who owns the New York Mets.
The casino is set to be built on the 50-acre lot next to the Citi Field stadium in Queens. It is expected to have 286,208 square feet of gaming space, an entertainment venue, multiple restaurants, a convention center, a hotel and retail.
The $8.1billion development would bring 5,000 slot machines, 375 live dealer tables, 30 poker tables and an 18,000 square foot sportsbook to north Queens.
The developers pledged to invest $1.75billion in community investments, and the casino is projected to generate $3.9 billion in revenue and $850 million in taxes annually by the third year of operation.
Bally’s plans to invest $4billion to build a casino and resort spanning 16 acres next to Bally’s Golf Links in the southeastern Bronx’s Ferry Point.
The planned casino would be 250 feet tall and span three million square feet, with 3,500 slots and other gambling machines, 250 table games and a poker room.
President Donald Trump will directly benefit from one of the approved licenses. The Trump Organization will receive a $115million once the Bally’s license has been officially approved
Resorts World is owned by Malaysian billionaire Lim Kok Thay (pictured here with his wife) through his company Genting
The associated resort would have a 500-room luxury hotel, dining and entertainment venues, a 2,000-person event center and meeting spaces.
The location is projected to generate more than $1billion in revenue from gambling and more than $200 million in taxes to the state every year.
The third license, which went to Resorts World, will allow the company to expand its current casino into the largest gaming floor in the city.
Resorts World, which is owned by Malaysian billionaire Lim Kok Thay through his company Genting, will invest $5.6billion to create a 500,000 square foot casino with 6,000 slots, 800 table games, 2,000 hotel rooms, a 7,000-seat entertainment venue, a conference center, restaurants, a spa and more.
The company projects that the casino will generate $2.2billion in annual revenue, which would rise to between $3.3billion and $4.6billion in 2031.
The new casinos are the culmination of more than a decade of effort by gaming companies vying to gain access to the largest city in the country, with an enormous population and one of the highest wealth per person ratios in the US.
New York voters approved a constitutional amendment allowing seven casino licenses statewide all the way back in 2013, with a ten-year moratorium on downstate licenses so upstate casinos could establish themselves before facing competition from the city.
Bally’s and Metropolitan Park are expected to open their doors in 2030, and Resorts World is expected to finish the first phase of its expansion in 2026, with the second phase also being completed in 2030.