Casinos in New York to reopen Sept. 9

Casinos in New York will be allowed to open at limited capacity starting Wednesday, according to a directive issued by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday, resurrecting an essential lifeline for purses and for operating funds for New York racetracks.

New York’s casinos, including one adjacent to Aqueduct racetrack in Queens, have been closed since mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic. Casinos located at New York racetracks provide substantial subsidies to purses and, in the case of the New York Racing Association, which operates Aqueduct, Belmont, and Saratoga, generate tens of millions of dollars each year for capital improvements.

Two weeks ago, NYRA announced major cuts to its stakes purses for the upcoming Belmont Park meet, in large part due to the lack of subsidies from the Aqueduct casino. NYRA also announced an additional one-week break in racing between the close of Saratoga on Labor Day and the opening of Belmont.

The New York casinos provide approximately one-third of the purse money distributed at NYRA’s tracks, and they also provide boosts to breeders’ awards.

“The resumption of [slot machine] revenues to NYRA will solidify the purse account that supports hundreds of small businesses and thousands of hourly workers,” said NYRA’s director of communications, Patrick McKenna, in an emailed statement.

In August, NYRA officials told a regulatory agency that the company had enough cash to remain financially viable until at least the end of 2021, even with the casinos remaining closed. However, the officials also acknowledged that the lack of subsidies could have a significant impact on the purse account and the association’s plans for capital expenditures throughout the next year if the casinos did not reopen.

Under the guidelines issued by Cuomo, casinos will be allowed to operate at 25 percent capacity, and patrons will be required to practice social distancing. In other states that have already reopened their casinos, that has meant shutting down slot machines in gambling rows in order to keep players six feet apart.

Other states have allowed their casinos to reopen with capacity restrictions, but the limitations, for the most part, have not had a significant impact on total business. In Kentucky, for example, casinos were allowed to reopen in June with restrictions that led to the disabling of one-third of their available slot machines, but total handle was up 23.4 percent in July.