The efforts of the Republicans in the New York Senate, and the Democrats in the State Assembly have led to the surprising decision of the New York Gambling Commission to give Tyre, NY one of three casino licenses.
On December 26, 2014, Gov. Andrew Mark Cuomo requested а re-evaluation of the Southern Tier region as a gambling destination from the Gaming Commission. This has surprised the whole community.
Tyre, NY is situated in Seneca County, which is not in Southern Tier. It is part of the the Finger Lakes region in New York State. Tyre has a population of less than 1,000 people. Compared to other states, it does not need new gambling businesses that much, so the decision of the Gaming Commission could be considered merely political.
There are 35,000 people living in Seneca County, 200,000 in Broome County, and 51,000 in Tioga County. As it could easily be seen, Seneca County has the least population and the lowest unemployment rate among these with 5.1%. While the unemployment in Broome County equals to 6.0%, the one in Tioga County is 5.8%. The reasons for this decision of the Gaming Commission is mainly political, because obviously the economic need here is larger than in other states. Proposition One, which gives full casino license, was voted “against” in Tyre.
The Gaming Commission’s decision will not create new businesses, but will only make some changes to the already existing gambling ones. The Lago Casino in Tyre, NY is expected to seriously affect two or more other casinos as a result. The Finger Lakes Casino and the Turning Stone Casino will lose 20-30% of their profits from the Lago Casino site.
The request for a review by Gov. Andrew Cuomo is a political act. He does not particularly like to be opposed. The Governor wants the state of New York to be a homogeneous one, governed mainly by Democrats like himself.
Tioga Counties and Broome form the entirely Republican 22nd Congressional District. In 2014, the Democrats did not run an opposition candidate. The Republican Tom Reed holds the 23rd Congressional District, which includes Cattaraugus, Allegany, Chemung Counties and Chautauqua. The mentioned 6 Counties account for 75% of the Southern Tier.
As far as the State Senate is concerned, Republicans hold just 4 districts. Democrats in the Southern Tier region hold the 123rd and 125th Assembly Districts. The actions of the Gaming Commission can be considered a punishment against the Southern Tier for not supporting the Governor during the 2014 election.
