(NASDAQ: ALHY; BSE:ALH, ALHW; OTCBB:ALHYW)Alpha Hospitality Announces Court Upholds Contact Previously Opposed by Park Place
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 27, 2001--Alpha Hospitality Corp. the "Company") announced today that the United States District Court of the Southern District of New York, White Plains, reversed its prior decision of May 14, 2001 in pending litigation against Park Place Entertainment Corporation (NYSE: PPE) by Catskill Development LLC and its affiliates, including a subsidiary of Alpha Hospitality Corp. (NASDAQ:ALHY). Plaintiffs include the landowner, the developer and the manager of a proposed $505 million St. Regis Mohawk Monticello Raceway Casino Project adjoining the Monticello Raceway in Monticello, New York. The $6.3 billion action was initiated last November against PPE and alleges tortious interference and conspiracy to restrain the development of the project.
PPE is accused in the complaint of having unlawfully induced the Tribe to terminate certain agreements and its relationships with the plaintiffs only one week after the United States Secretary of the Interior approved the acquisition of a 29-acre parcel of land adjoining the Monticello Raceway by the United States Government in trust on behalf of the Tribe for a tribal gaming enterprise to be operated under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988.
An Alpha spokesman stated that the federal court's decision validates the Land Purchase Agreement under which the Tribe was contractually obligated to use its reasonable best efforts in good faith to seek all approvals required from the United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the National Indian Gaming Commission for land acquisition and development, management and other agreements relating to the project. The Court reversed its earlier ruling and concluded that Land Purchase Agreement constituted a legally enforceable contact. It is expected that the trial will commence in 2002.
As they aggressively prosecute their federal court claims against PPE, Plaintiffs intend to continue to negotiate with other federally recognized tribes to develop a Native American Casino at the Monticello Raceway.
To the extent the content of this press release includes forward-looking statements, they involve risks and uncertainties that are described from time to time in the Company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company wishes to caution readers not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which statements are made pursuant to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1994, and as such, speak only as of the date made.
CONTACT: Alpha Hospitality Corp.
Thomas W. Aro, 212/750-3500
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