New York's 4th casino license under both fire & review

The board on Dec. 17 said it was recommending that three licenses be awarded, even though the law would allow up to four upstate casino licenses. The full Gaming Commission eventually must approve the recommendations. Board members backed the resort/casino proposals for Montreign in Sullivan County; Rivers in Schenectady County; and Lago Thompson in Tyre, Seneca County. But the recommendation for Lago, located between Rochester and Syracuse, drew an outcry from politicians and businessmen alike just north of the Pennsylvania border — the area known as the Southern Tier.

Due to a quirk in the boundaries and because of exclusivity agreements granted to existing Indian casinos, the area dubbed the Eastern Southern Tier included Tyre in northern Seneca County, some 80 miles and more than 90 minutes from the Pennsylvania border.

"That's a Finger Lakes casino," said Greg Biryla, spokesman for Unshackle Upstate, a Rochester-based economic development group. Jeff Gural, who operates the Tioga Downs harness track and racino in Nichols, Tioga County, agreed. He and the operators of Traditions at the Glen near Binghamton also sought an Eastern Southern Tier license.

Since the selections were announced, Traditions said it was pulling out, leaving Tioga Downs as a likely candidate for what would be the fourth casino license. The site is about two miles from the Pennsylvania border.

News of a possible fourth license encouraged Gural, who also runs the Meadowlands harness track in New Jersey.

Garden State voters may get a referendum this year that, if passed, could allow a casino in the Meadowlands. With that in mind, Florida-based Hard Rock International has agreed to join Meadowlands in a potential casino project. Hard Rock was also part of a failed bid for a casino license in Rensselaer. Gural stressed that Hard Rock isn't likely to play a role in a potential Tioga casino due to its planned size and location. "We kind of run a mom-and-pop operation there," Gural said of Tioga Downs." The way we are now, I do whatever I feel like,'' he added, explaining that a larger corporate partner, which would have to report to stockholders, would limit his freedom.

On the other hand, awarding a license to casinos in Tyre and Nichols, which are about two hours' drive apart, could hurt one or the other, said Alan Woinski, president of Gaming USA, a New Jersey firm that tracks the gambling industry.

Days after the Lago recommendation was made, the Oneida Indian Nation announced plans for a "Wizard of Oz"-themed casino to be built on tribal lands in Chittenango, Madison County, an hour east of Tyre and a bit closer than the existing Oneida-owned Turning Stone casino in Verona, Oneida County.

That, Woinski believes, is a ''defensive measure'' by the Oneida. "There are very few locations left in the United States where you can open a casino and not hurt at least one (competing) property," he said.