Residents of Nichols, New York as well as other members of the public will be given their chance to express their support or state their opposition to Tioga Downs Casino & Racing’s application for the fourth casino license in the state of New York.
A public hearing on the matter is scheduled to take place today at Baldwin Gymnasium at SUNY Broome Community College, located in Binghamton, New York. It is to start from 10 am local time and attendees will have up to 2 pm to state their opinions in the presence of members of the state Gaming Facility Location Board.
Tioga Downs representatives will also attend the event but they will not be allowed to address the board members or to be addressed by the other participants. On the other hand, the public will be given that chance as everyone who wants to express what he or she thinks about Tioga Down’s bid will have no more than five minutes to do so.
A similar public hearing was held in Ithaca in 2014. The New York Gaming Facility Location Board specifically stated that speakers from last year’s meeting will not be guaranteed an opportunity to participate today. Yet, their comments may eventually be included to this year’s opinions.
Today’s public hearing is expected to be attended by hundreds of Nichols residents and members of the general public.
Tioga Downs is the only applicant for the Southern Tier casino license. In fact, the venue, which is owned by local real estate developer Jeff Gural, last year failed to win the approval of the Gaming Facility Location Board. Last December, the gambling regulator backed three other proposals for fully-fledged casinos across the state and pointed out that a fourth license is not likely to be awarded.
However, Nichols officials together with Mr. Gural noted that they will do their best to eventually win a license for the Southern Tier region. After a recommendation from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the New York State Gaming Commission decided to re-launch the bid for another casino. However, regulators pointed out that a fourth license may not be granted eventually.
If approved, Tioga Downs will be turned into a full-scale casino with table games and slot machines and will also offer a number of other leisure and entertainment options as well as a 161-room hotel. Regulators are expected to announce whether the plan would be materialized by the end of the year.
