Resorts World at Aqueduct one of three recommended for casino licenses

A commission set up by New York to study locations for full-fledged casinos in the New York City metropolitan area on Monday recommended that Resorts World Casino adjacent to Aqueduct racetrack receive one of the available licenses.

Resorts World, which is owned by the Genting Group, was one of three bidders recommended for licenses by the five-member New York Gaming Facility Location Board at a meeting on Monday morning. If the recommendation is approved, the existing casino will be able to operate table games and replace its so-called “electronic-gambling devices” with slot machines.

Bally’s, the hotel-casino company, was recommended for a casino in the Bronx, and a partnership between Hard Rock Casino and New York real estate developer Steven Cohen, received the third recommendation, for a casino near Citi Field, the home of the Mets, a team owned by Cohen.

The Resorts World Casino at Aqueduct, which has been in operation since 2011, generates tens of millions of dollars a year in statutorily required operating funds and purse subsidies for the New York Racing Association. Those revenue streams are protected under a “hold-harmless” clause inserted into legislation passed in 2022, nine years after New York voters approved a constitutional amendment allowing up to seven new casinos in the state.

The recommendations by the board are expected to be voted on by the New York State Gaming Commission by the end of the month.

Aqueduct will be closed for live racing in the spring of next year, after a complete renovation of Belmont Park on Long Island is nearly finished. The Aqueduct racetrack is expected to be demolished soon afterwards.

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