Eric Schneiderman, the State Attorney General, announced that he and his team have already started inspecting the terms under which Governor Cuomo has awarded the casino licenses to the three companies that are expected to establish the new casinos as soon as all administrative issues are ironed out.
Back in December 2014, three casino projects were given the nod and the properties will be built in the region of Finger Lakes, Schenectady and Catskills, respectively.
Anyway, Mr. Schneiderman is to review the whole selection process as well as the purely administrative aspect of it and last but not least, the competences of the administration.
The first thing the investigators did was to interview the bidders that took part in the competition but were not awarded licenses.
One of the bidders that did not manage to propose a bid that is high enough to get them a license, was the Tioga Downs racetrack. A meeting between its owner Jeff Gural and local authorities was held last Friday. Mr. Gural commented that in order to make sure the bidding process was fair and legal, officials will meet every bidder and talk to them about the legal aspect of the auction.
As for the meeting itself, Mr. Gural announced that he does not believe there were dishonest or illegal practices during the entire process and informed New York’s officials about that.
Apart from the director of Tioga Downs, another three bidders were contacted by Schneiderman’s assistants.
The spokesperson of Governor Cuomo announced that the Gaming Commission, which was in charge of granting the three licenses, is said to take care of the issue.
Lee Park, the spokesman of the Gaming Commission said that nobody from the Schneiderman’s office has expressed willingness for discussing the legal aspect of the bidding process so far. Yet, he reassured the communities that the license-awarding procedure was completely transparent and in accordance with the Upstate New York Gaming Economic Development Act.
Mr. Schneiderman seemed unwilling to comment on the situation, though.
In point of fact, the general attorney and the governor has argued about a lot of issues over the years, which to a certain extent, had a negative impact on the well-being of the residents and the region.
Surprising or not, the expansion of the gambling sector became a subject to heated debates between Governor Cuomo, Mr. Schneiderman and the Southern Tier officials and the majority of them were convinced that such a move would not bring the long-awaited revival of the casino industry in New York.
