New York Casino Decisions Come Monday

On Monday, December 1, 2025, the winners of the coveted downstate New York casino licenses will be revealed after more than ten years of waiting. There could be as few as none or as many as three winners.

The CUNY Graduate Center's Proshansky Auditorium on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan will host an open meeting of the New York Gaming Facility Location Board on Monday starting at 10 a.m. The five-member Board is scheduled to announce the winners of the three gaming licenses that are available for New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County, as permitted by the state's 2013 New York Gaming Economic Development Act, after quickly going over the minutes from the Board's November meeting.

70% of the Board's review is focused on company development and economic activity, 10% on local impact siting, 10% on workforce enhancement, and 10% on diversity framework. The Board's website provides a thorough explanation of each category.

The Act does not mandate the issuance of any licenses, but the Board may grant licenses for slot machines, live dealer table games, and sports betting to three applicants.

 

Bids from New York Casinos

Community Advisory Committees rejected The Coney in Brooklyn, Freedom Plaza in Manhattan, Caesars Palace Times Square, and The Avenir in Manhattan, leaving just three applications. After concluding that the pursuit was no longer appealing due to changing economic conditions, MGM Empire City withdrew its application.

Bally's Corp., Hard Rock International and billionaire Steve Cohen, and Genting, the parent company of Resorts World, all still in the running.

• 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.

The conditions of Trump's 2023 sale of the golf course lease to Bally's for $60 million stipulated that the president's business empire would receive $115 million, so if Bally's wins, so does The Trump Organization.

 

The Casino Board Is Diverse 

New Yorkers with backgrounds in banking, economics, city planning, commercial real estate, and executive leadership make up the New York Gaming Facility Location Board. Vicki Been, a faculty director of NYU's Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, an affiliated public policy professor at the NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, and the Judge Edward Weinfeld Professor of Law at New York University School of Law, is in charge of the unpaid Board.

Cindy Estrada is the executive director of the New York City Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and a small company owner who was only hired in late September. Marion Phillips III is US News & World Report's senior vice president for community development and DEI, while Terryl Brown serves as vice president and general counsel at Pace University.

Greg Reimers is a retired executive from The Bank of New York and JPMorgan Chase.