Governor Spitzer Grants Concurrence for St. Regis Mohawk Casino
Tuesday February 20, 8:00 am ET
Also Signs Compact with Tribe Authorizing Gaming at Raceway Site
LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Empire Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ: NYNY - News) today announced that Governor Eliot Spitzer issued his concurrence with regard to the April 2000 Secretarial Determination which found that gaming in Sullivan County by the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe would be in the Tribe's and its members' best interest and would not be detrimental to the surrounding communities. A concurrence by the governor of a state where gaming is to occur is required by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 (IGRA.) In addition to the concurrence, Governor Spitzer also signed the Tribal-State Compact Amendment, authorizing gaming in Sullivan County and, specifically, at the Monticello site where the Tribe intends to build a Class III casino.
ADVERTISEMENT
"We thank Governor Spitzer for his quick action and applaud his vision for bringing jobs and development to the upstate New York economy and Sullivan County," declared David P. Hanlon, Empire's President and CEO. "With this monumental achievement behind us, we look forward to having the land put into trust for our partners, the St. Regis Mohawks, after which we will lay out a timeframe for construction of a world-class casino. We appreciate the patience of our customers, our investors, and the community and are excited about the prospect of bringing prosperity to the Catskills - where a St. Regis Mohawk Casino will mean thousands of new jobs and a new beginning for years to come."
Both the concurrence and the Compact Amendment will be forwarded to the U.S. Department of the Interior for review and further action. The concurrence is the final step in the IGRA Section 20 process. The Department can now begin its final administrative review so that the Secretary can determine whether to accept title to the Monticello site in trust for the benefit of the Tribe and development of a Class III gaming facility. Under current policy, the Department will have 45 days to approve or disapprove of the Compact Amendment after the Monticello land is put in trust.
About Empire Resorts, Inc.
Empire operates the Monticello Raceway and is involved in the development of other legal gaming venues in New York. Empire opened Mighty M Gaming at the Raceway site on June 30, 2004. This facility features over 1,500 video gaming machines and amenities such as a 350-seat buffet and live entertainment. Empire is also working to develop a $500 million "Class III" Native American casino and resort on a site adjacent to the Raceway and other gaming and non-gaming resort projects in the Catskills region and other areas.
Statements in this press release regarding the company's business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties, including the need for regulatory approvals, financing and successful completion of construction. 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. To the extent the content of this press release includes forward-looking statements, they involve various risks and uncertainties including (i) the risk that the various approvals necessary as described herein and other approvals required to be obtained from the United States Congress, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the National Indian Gaming Regulatory Commission, the Governor of the State of New York and various other federal, State and local governmental entities are not received, (ii) the risk that financing necessary for the proposed programs or projects may not be able to be obtained because of credit factors, market conditions or other contingencies, (iii) the risk that sovereign Native American governments may exercise certain broad rights with regard to termination of its agreements with the company (iv) the risk of non-compliance by various counterparties of the related agreements, and (v) general risks affecting the company as described from time to time in it's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For a full discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in the company's Annual Report or Form 10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year.
AI
