Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano
By Dan Murphy
Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano responded to an Op-Ed published in Yonkerstimes.com by Christine Sculti, republican candidate for Westchester County Executive, conerning MGM-Empire Casino in Yonkers application for a full gaming casino license.
Sculti’s Op-Ed can be found here- https://yonkerstimes.com/yonkers-casino-expansion-a-gamble-on-our-communitys-future/
Spano writes, “She might live on the other side of the County from Yonkers, but that’s no excuse for Rye resident and Republican-Conservative County Executive candidate Christine Sculti to throw cold water on MGM’s application for a full gaming casino license.
“Writing in the Yonkers Times, Sculti rolls out the standard objections that casino gaming is really a license for human trafficking, drugs, organized crime, and traffic gridlock – her list goes on and on.
“She demands a plan to deal with community concerns. But guess what? There is one. You just have to take the time to read it.
“But first let’s review the benefits of a casino license for Empire Casino. No longer limited to slot machines, the additional table games and sports betting will generate more than $350 million a year in gaming taxes, with 10 percent of that amount going directly to Yonkers. We’d have to raise the property tax by double digits to otherwise make up for that amount.
“Then there are the jobs – not just the 6,500 construction jobs for the build out, but the additional 2,000 permanent union jobs that will be created once the expansion opens. Combined with the existing 700 jobs, that’s 2,700 area households that will enjoy good wages thanks to this license.
“MGM’s submission, available on the State’s website, runs to more than a thousand pages. It outlines how it will spend more than $40 million to deal with traffic and other issues. Dozens of area intersections will be rebuilt or get improved signalization – many of them aren’t even near the casino but will be improved anyway. A landscaped buffer will be created along one side of the casino, and new streetscapes will be constructed.
“On top of this my office and the City Council have reached a community benefits agreement with MGM that amounts to much more. Besides $10 million to create a new neighborhood public library and $2 million a year to provide additional neighborhood police patrols, at least $500,000 a year will go to local non-profit agencies.
“While there are easy political points to be made in criticizing a casino license, let’s take a minute to consider what happens if Yonkers doesn’t get one. The answer is simple: The existing slot parlor and racetrack will close. A study by the leading gaming consultant in the nation confirms this. MGM agrees.
“But we don’t need a study to tell us this. Our own common sense will do.
“The State is going to award three full casino licenses in the New York City area. How long do we think people will flock to an aging slot machine parlor when there are three other brand new casinos a half hour away that have table games, sports betting, performance venues, and a variety of restaurants?
“The choice isn’t whether MGM Empire Casino stays as it is or becomes a full casino. The choice is whether Yonkers gets a full casino license or closes altogether, throwing hundreds of people out of work, causing Yonkers an immediate $28 million annual tax loss, and losing the opportunity for thousands of new jobs and new tax revenues for years to come.
“If Yonkers doesn’t get a casino license, then who does? The closest competitor is the Bally golf course in the Bronx near the Whitestone Bridge. It used to be called Trump Links, and when Bally’s purchased it they agreed to pay Donald Trump $115 million if it ever becomes a casino.
“Maybe some political candidates are willing to risk Yonkers’ future for the benefit of Donald Trump or the other deep-pocketed competitors.
“By the end of the year New York State will decide who gets the three new casino licenses, and whether our City’s biggest private sector will win one or be forced into eventual closure. I hope that all of our local leaders, and those who wish to become local leaders, will do what is right for our collective future.”
Mike Spano, Mayor, City of Yonkers
