Binghamton officials announced late on Sunday that no application for the construction of a casino in the city would be submitted to the New York gambling regulator. Last week, the City Council unanimously approved the proposed project.
Jared Kraham, Binghamton Deputy Mayor, said that Albany-based businessman Jeffrey Hyman would drop his proposal for the establishment of a gambling venue on the territory of the city. The developer told local media that his decision was due to the new Environmental Zone maps, published by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation last week. Those newly published maps resulted in several of his investors backing off from the project, thus forcing the businessman to drop the application.
If the application had been approved, the casino would have been built at the former site of Stow Manufacturing. However, the proposed location had not been included in the new maps.
Debbie Preston, Broome County Executive, said in a Sunday statement that officials are disappointed with the Department of Environmental Conservation’s decision not to include the site. Thus, the agency had prevented what could have been the largest-scale private investment in the area from being materialized.
Ms. Preston also demanded answers from the state agency, pointing out that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo had repeatedly said that he wanted competition for the Southern Tier casino license. Yet, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation made a decision that in a way “killed the competition.”
With Mr. Hyman dropping his proposal, there is only one bidder for the casino license left – businessman Jeff Gural, who owns Tioga Downs Casino & Racing in Nichols, New York. He proposed to expand his facility and add table games. Mr. Gural submitted his application to the New York State Gaming Commission last Thursday.
Back in March, the state gaming regulator renewed the bidding process for a fourth casino on the territory of New York, after residents and Gov. Cuomo called for a gambling venue in the Southern Tier region. However, the Gaming Commission has repeatedly pointed out that there is no guarantee that a license would be eventually awarded.
Interested parties have up until 4 pm on July 6 to submit their application to the regulator.
On December 17, 2014, the New York Gaming Facility Location Board approved licenses for three casino projects – Lago Resort & Casino in Tyre, Montreign Resort Casino in Thompson, and Rivers Casino & Resort in Schenectady. However, the licenses for those are yet to be issued.
