SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

Source: Jamie Adams via Wikimedia Commons

Although the legislative calender for 2013 is quickly ending, Governor Andrew Cuomo is still trying to sort out the question of bringing legalized gambling to the state. Times Union is reporting that Cuomo is using the remaining 23 legislative days to strike a deal.

While Cuomo is hard at work in trying to sort through a compromise that would bring three casinos to upstate New York, the governor couldn’t guarantee that it would happen.

“[C]asinos are among the most complicated” Cuomo said referring to the legislative measures left on his agenda.

While the governor is delaying the proposed plan of fully legalizing gambling and bringing seven casinos to the state, he still thinks its possible to approve three gambling meccas in upstate New York, with the first one being built in the Catskills.

The governor said Election Day 2014 might be better-suited to put a proposed referendum to allow for up to seven casinos before voters because this year’s biggest race is New York City’s mayoral contest. Since he is advocating for just three upstate casinos to be built in the near term, metropolitan area voters might not bother to vote on a constitutional amendment to legalize gambling outside the city.

“That’s a major problem,” Cuomo said.

Cuomo’s delaying of a full-blown push for legalized gambling probably reflects the mixed public reaction on the issue. Polls have shown that a slim majority of New Yorkers asked are against the idea of building all of the proposed casinos upstate, meaning they want one in the city. The same poll also pointed to a contradiction in people’s feelings as it showed that a majority also do not want a casino in the city.

You see, it’s complicated.

Source: Jamie Adams via Wikimedia Commons

It appears the New York State budget will be delivered on time for the third year in a row – a noteworthy accomplishment rising out of Albany’s dysfunction. But, in getting it done, legislators have postponed decision-making on some of the more controversial topics, including an amendment on the expansion of casino gambling that could see one established in Coney Island.

City & State reports:

“I have concern with working toward an on-time budget,” Cuomo said. “We’ve had two on-time budgets. This would be the third on-time budget since about 1984. We have a number of issues on the table that are challenging, that are controversial, so we’re working very hard, and it’s going well, but am I concerned? Yes.”

New York State has a $1.6 billion gap in its $135 billion budget for 2013–14. That amount is far smaller than the $10 billion deficit Cuomo had to tackle in his first year in office, but several thorny policy and spending issues remain.

One of the most pressing issues to complete the budget early, as Cuomo and legislative leaders would like, is finding cuts to healthcare spending after the federal government reduces Medicaid payments to the state this year, as well as finding additional funds to send to the New York City school system if teachers win a reversal of a $240 million budget slash resulting from the failed teacher evaluation talks.

As legislators and the governor mull these issues, they’ve been forced to table some of the governor’s ambitious goals until later in the legislative season, including an expansion of legalized gambling, an increase in minimum wage and immigration reform.

The Assembly is full steam ahead on minimum wage – already passing a bill increasing it to $9.00, but Senate Republicans who share leadership in that house are opposed to it.

Concerns about casinos, though, are more bipartisan, with many legislators demanding that any casino legislation moving forward include locations in the language, something Cuomo is against.

According to the Daily News, the timing of casino rollouts is also in question. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver wants not only siting language included, but a provision to spread out the timetable for casino development. The first phase of casino expansion as outlined by Governor Cuomo would see three casinos established upstate, and Silver wants a waiting period of up to five years before a second round of casinos is launched.

“That way, the governor next year doesn’t say, ‘We need a billion dollars, that’s what someone would bid for a Manhattan casino, let’s do one there,’ ” Silver told the Daily News.

“It would also enhance the value of the (first) three, if you give them exclusivity for five years or some period of time,” he added. “It would make the bidding of the three more valuable (for the state) as well, if [potential operators] know they only have two others to compete with and not one in New York City.”

Silver’s Republican counterpart in the Senate, Dean Skelos, said he wants to keep all options on the table.

Daily News is also reporting that the tide is beginning to turn in both houses, as casino lobbyists up their game.

The industry “is starting to put real pressure and offer up big donations to legislators who would go the other way and support a New York City casino,” the source said. “That’s why you’re starting to see a shift in the Legislature.”

The constitutional amendment would only authorize a number of casinos to be permitted. Separate legislation would be needed to spell out the details.

Silver said lawmakers want a say in what regions are eligible for casinos, but that they do not want to get involved in the bidding process, or where specifically a casino would be located within an agreed-upon region.

The budget is due March 31, making resolution of these thornier issues unlikely until later in the legislative session, which ends in June.

Source: Jamie Adams via Wikimedia Commons

As we’ve previously reported, Governor Cuomo has been pushing to legalize gambling statewide in recent months, but efforts to build casinos within the five boroughs has met stiff resistance, according to a report by Crains New York.

A new poll, conducted by the Global Strategy Group and paid for by the massive Malaysian casino corporation Genting, concluded that, while a slim majority of New Yorkers want to expand gambling, support drops as potential locations are put on the table. And, in New York, support drops even more when placed “in your neighborhood.”

We’ve seen this sentiment expressed by local politicians of Southern Brooklyn, many of whom joined the Stop the Coney Island Casino advocacy group.

A slim majority of New Yorkers polled are against the idea of building all of the proposed casinos upstate, meaning they want one in the city. At the same time, they don’t want it, um, in the city:

The poll showed that a majority of voters were opposed to placing all seven casinos outside of New York City (51% to 44%) and to placing three casinos upstate and none in New York City (53% to 41%.) In other words, those proposals fared slightly worse than if the door were left open to a casino in the city, as Mr. Cuomo recently suggested.

The poll shows favorable voter attitudes towards the idea of turning Genting’s Resorts World Casino in southeast Queens into a full-scale casino, and placing the six other casinos outside of New York City. Half of voters support such a proposal, while 44% are opposed. That is the plan that the company’s high-powered lobbyists are pushing in Albany.

The Global Strategy Group also polled the attitudes of likely 2013 Democratic primary voters, some of whom who could potentially base their decisions in the 2013 mayoral race on candidates’ positions on casinos. A solid 56% of city voters opposed building full-scale casinos in New York City, with 60% opposing building one in Queens, 62% did not want one in Brooklyn and 74% objected to one in “your neighborhood.” Among general election voters (who will be the ones voting on a November referendum), 40% supported building a new casino in New York City and 54% were opposed.

Basically, when it comes to bringing a huge glitzy legalized gambling complex to the city, New Yorkers are conflicted. Where do you stand? And will it effect how you vote for mayor?

Source: Jamie Adams via Wikimedia Commons

Borough President Marty Markowitz wants a casino to be built in Coney Island. Now, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver may also be eyeing the People’s Playground for a new casino.

Silver hopes for a location that is a “destination resort area,” according to the New York Daily News. He is also considering Willets Point near Citi Field. Both are preferable, he said, to the Aquaduct.

“[A casino] would bring jobs and revenue to potential locations in New York City, especially Coney Island, which is a natural,” Markowitz said earlier this year.

Though a constitutional amendment to legalize casino gambling and authorize up to seven casinos in New York State has been passed, Governer Cuomo is not expected to decide on locations until next year.

Other officials including Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz, have spoken out with some concerns about  bringing gambling to the area.

“While we might be looking at an economic engine that could generate over a billion dollars annually for the state, thousands of new jobs and increased recreational venues for New Yorkers, we are also looking at a substantial increase in problem gambling,” Cymbrowitz said.

Cymbrowitz states that if a casino comes to the area, funding must also go to expansion of treatment prograor gambling addicts.

There is no guarantee just yet as other locations may present a viable alternative, and local leaders would have to agree on the location of the new casino.

In a December 2011 poll, Sheepshead Bites readers indicated strong support for expanding access to casinos in New York State. Just over 38 percent of poll respondents gave an unconditional “Yes” to the question of legalizing gambling, while another 34 percent said yes, but with strict oversight and increased funding for gambling addiction programs. Almost 21 percent said no to legalization or to adding more exceptions, while six percent said no to legalization, but that current allowances should be increased.