Currently, Tioga Downs is a racino with harness racing and video games.
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However, the Nation says the board should have gone further by rescinding its flawed recommendation of the Lago Resort and Casino earlier this year.
Gural said a celebration at Tioga is planned for the coming weeks. The facility would include new gambling options, a hotel, restaurants and a concert venue.
PHOTO CAPTION: A state panel has approved Tioga Downs Casino Racing & Entertainment for the state’s final casino-gaming license.
A full casino is in the cards for the Southern Tier.
Gural has said his application will center on a multimillion-dollar expansion of Tioga Downs, now one of nine racinos in New York – gambling halls adjacent to racetracks, which can house electronic gaming but not poker, blackjack or other table games. “It’s great news, because we’re in a bit of a slump”. Gural was publicly furious at the time with Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who he has politically supported; Gural has also flirted with the future possibility of a casino at Meadowlands.
“There is a whole lot more than lipstick with this application”, said Kevin Law, the head of the siting board. He said Tioga Downs projects gross gaming revenue of $107 million and gaming tax revenue of $32 million by 2019. It could take at least several months; the three projects endorsed a year ago are still awaiting their licenses. “I would like to personally thank the selection committee, Governor Cuomo and the many municipalities and community leaders who made this license for Tioga Downs a reality”.
The Oneida Indian Nation, whose casinos will lose business if Lago opens, has joined with Finger Lakes and others in pushing back against the Lago plan.
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The New York Gaming Facility Location Board decided last December to recommend three casino licenses in Upstate but not one for Tioga Downs and the Southern Tier region. He called on the state to rescind the preliminary approval of the Lago casino plan.
