The Malaysian-based Genting Group has spent at least $2.7 million on firms to lobby for the expansion of the Resorts World facility it operates at the Aqueduct Race Track in Queens since last January - the most any bidder has shelled out, according to reports with the state’s Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government. The selection process could last several years.įor now, it’s the lobbyists who are cashing in.

Each bidder is offering the state at least $500 million - a mandatory entry fee for access to the nation’s largest untapped gaming market. Two existing “racinos” in Queens and Yonkers are considered frontrunners for two of the licenses to expand their limited operations, with another eight, and potentially more, competing for the likely one remaining permit. The state opened the bidding process in January to operate three downstate licenses. I don’t think New York City has ever seen anything like what we’re about to witness as the bids heat up.”

“Even one of these bids will probably be amongst the hardest-fought public campaigns, and to have ten happening at the same time in New York City is just totally unprecedented. “It seems like every lobbyist in town is eventually going to have a casino client,” Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine said in an interview. Good government groups worry the mix of big money, fierce competition and political signoff creates a breeding ground for corruption. The contestants are shelling out unreported sums for consulting, political strategy and public relations - contracts that are not required to be made public, unlike lobbying deals. A rendering of a casino proposal in Times Square from Caesars Entertainment, SL Green and Roc Nation.Īnd that is a fraction of the money being spent.

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