By: Jennifer Mobilia
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Governor Andrew Cuomo once again reiterated his desire to allow casinos in New York during Wednesday’s visit to Buffalo.
“Let’s amend the constitution. Let’s acknowledge the reality. We’re in the casino business, and let’s do it in a way that maximizes the profit for this state and protects our New Yorkers,” said Cuomo, (D).
Currently, the New York state constitution does not allow casino gambling; however, tribal casinos, like those owned and operated by the Seneca Gaming Corporation, and racinos, are legal.
“We are in the casino business even though we spell it with an R. We have 29,000 electronic gaming machines in this state. That’s more than Atlantic City,” Cuomo said.
Many of those slots are generating revenue for the Seneca Gaming Corporation, who have been extremely successful with casinos in Western New York. So successful, that Wednesday, Seneca Gaming announced it has hired an award-winning architecture firm out of Tennessee to make its current Buffalo Creek Casino a destination along Buffalo’s waterfront.
“The opportunity in this great location in the Inner Harbor is going to give us a chance to show the history of the Seneca Nation, but also blend in some other architecture element from the greater Buffalo area that we’re going to reside in,” said Jim Wise of Seneca Gaming Corp.
Wise says once the new casino is complete, it’ll feature over 800 slot machines, table games, food and a bar area.
But unlike Governor Cuomo, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz says he isn’t convinced casinos are the economic engine New York needs.
“I’m not a big fan of casino gaming. I don’t really think it’s the silver bullet that people say it’s going to be,” said Poloncarz, (D). “In the end we need to generate revenue in this community by creating new jobs. Where is the greatest amount of new jobs created? In the small business end, not in large business.”
The Seneca Nation declined to comment on Wednesday. However, earlier in the month, the nation’s president, Robert Odawi Porter, said the nation did not oppose the state amending its constitution as long as it honored the nation’s exclusive gambling rights in Western New York.
http://buffalo.ynn.com/content/all_news/571453/governor-continues-push-to-legalize-casinos/