New York Casino Decisions Come Monday, Board Has No Requirement to Issue Licenses
Posted on: November 29, 2025, 10:04h.
Last updated on: November 29, 2025, 10:04h.
- The winners of downstate New York casino licenses are expected to be announced on Dec. 1
- Three bids remain for three available licenses, but the Board reviewing the bids has no requirement to issue all three concessions
After more than a decade of waiting, the winners of the coveted downstate New York casino licenses will be announced on Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. There could be as many as three winners, or as few as none.
The New York Gaming Facility Location Board will hold an open meeting on Monday morning beginning at 10 am at the CUNY Graduate Center’s Proshansky Auditorium on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. After briefly reviewing minutes from the Board’s November meeting, the five-member body is expected to announce the selection of winners for the three available gaming licenses for NYC, Long Island, and Westchester County, as authorized through the state’s 2013 New York Gaming Economic Development Act.
The Board’s evaluation is weighted with a 70% emphasis on economic activity and business development, 10% on local impact siting, 10% on workforce enhancement, and 10% on diversity framework. A detailed breakdown of the categories is found on the Board’s website.
While the Board can award slot machine, live dealer table games, and sports betting licenses to three applicants, the statute does not require any licenses to be granted.
New York Casino Bids
Only three bids remain, as Community Advisory Committees voted against The Coney in Brooklyn, Freedom Plaza in Manhattan, Caesars Palace Times Square, and The Avenir in Manhattan. MGM Empire City withdrew its application after determining that shifting economic conditions no longer rendered the pursuit attractive.
Resorts World parent Genting, Hard Rock International and billionaire Steve Cohen, and Bally’s Corp. remain in the hunt.
- Resorts World New York City, currently a racino where video lottery terminals and electronic table games operate, has proposed a $5.5 billion overhaul of the Queens complex at the Aqueduct Racetrack near JFK International. Genting, Resorts World’s Malaysia-based parent, has sweetened its bid with a $600 million upfront licensing payment, a $100 million premium on the statutory $500 million fee.
- About six miles north, Cohen, the owner of the New York Mets and Citi Field Ballpark, has partnered with Hard Rock to present an $8 billion casino resort at Willets Point.
- About 3.5 miles north of Willets Point, across the East River, Bally’s has proposed a $4 billion investment to bring a gaming destination to Ferry Point Park, where the casino operator manages the Bally’s Golf Links on the city’s behalf.
If Bally’s wins, so does The Trump Organization, as the president’s business empire would receive $115 million, a stipulation included in the terms when Trump sold the golf course lease to Bally’s in 2023 for $60 million.
Casino Board is Diverse
The New York Gaming Facility Location Board is comprised of New Yorkers with experience in finance, city planning, economics, commercial real estate, and executive leadership. The uncompensated Board is led by Vicki Been, the Judge Edward Weinfeld Professor of Law at New York University School of Law, an affiliated professor of public policy of the NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, and a faculty director of NYU’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy.
Cindy Estrada, appointed only in late September, is a small business owner and the executive director of the New York City Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Terryl Brown is the vice president and general counsel at Pace University, while Marion Phillips III is the senior vice president for community development and DEI at US News & World Report.
Greg Reimers is a retired JPMorgan Chase and The Bank of New York executive.
No comments yet