Empire Resorts (NYNY)

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Catskills Casino Coming Up Aces - Spitzer OKs Catskills Casino
Copyright 2007, The New York Post. All Rights Reserved)

ALBANY - City gamblers who want to try their luck may soon be able to roll the dice - legally - a lot closer to home.

After decades of ups and downs, a proposed $600 million Catskills casino took a big step forward yesterday when Gov. Spitzer announced a deal with the St. Regis Mohawks for an Indian-run betting palace at Monticello Raceway, only 75 miles north of the city.

That's a lot closer to the Big Apple than gambling meccas Atlantic City (about 125 miles) or Foxwoods in Connecticut (about 140).

The new casino, which would be built and operated for the Mohawks by a gaming company known as Empire Resorts, would offer 3,500 slot machines and 125 table games including blackjack, roulette and craps.

Estimates are that the casino would attract 6 million visitors a year - with 75 percent of those gamblers coming from the metropolitan New York area.

Final approval of the plan is needed from the U.S. Department of Interior, which must agree to take the non-Indian raceway land into a trust that would essentially make it Indian property.

"This agreement creates an economic partnership between the Mohawks and the people of New York," Spitzer said.

"By working together, we can establish a premier gaming facility [that] will produce significant revenues for the tribe and state, and help spark a resurgence of the Catskills region."

Empire Resorts spokesman Charles Deglimini said construction should take 18 months after the final approvals are given and the contracts signed.

While casinos are illegal in New York, they are allowed on Indian reservations.

Spitzer yesterday sent a letter to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, indicating that the use of the Monticello Raceway property for a casino is in the best interest of the tribe and surrounding community.

Off-reservation Indian casinos are rare in the United States, and Kempthorne has previously indicated that he is not enthusiastic about taking non-Indian land into trust. He reportedly told the Mohawks that final approval for the casino project is not guaranteed. State Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Queens), the Legislature's leading gambling opponent, called the deal "economic and social poison for the Catskills in which the problems will far outweigh any of the benefits."

Developers say the state's portion of the slot-machine revenue, which will be between 20 and 25 percent, should amount to $4 billion over 25 years.

The St. Regis Mohawks, whose upstate reservation straddles the New York-Canadian border and which has been the site of numerous weapons- and drug-smuggling incidents, have been interested in opening a Catskills casino for about a decade.

Yesterday, the Mohawk tribal council said it was rejoicing at the latest agreement and commended Spitzer for his "decisive action and commitment."

The Mohawks also agreed to comply with state tax, labor and health laws.

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Inside the deal

* Developers: St. Regis Mohawks, with Empire Resorts

* Location: Adjacent to Monticello Raceway in Sullivan County

* Features: 3,500 slot machines, 125 table games

* State's take of slot revenue: $4 billion over 25 years

* Jobs created: 3,000

* Cost: $600 million

* Estimated customers: 6 million, with 75 percent from the metro New York area

Exerpts of the New York Post were reprinted as a courtesy of the New York Post .

http://www.nypost.com