Reopened Bidding Results in Only One Casino Proposal

Thinly populated Southern Tier was going to give away casino licenses but surprisingly only one offer arrived.

According to the reports of online gambling sites in US, New York State’s gambling authority was going to register new casino licences on Monday. However, even though great interest was expected among casinos in the region, eventually there was only one proposal that they have received, which caused a huge disappointment for them.

Three casino proposals were expected

It was a rather disappointing occurrence because earlier there were 3 casinos expected to show up and offer their proposals to new casinos around New York. Monday was the deadline, which has already expired and two of the supposed competitors failed to hand in any of their plans about a new gambling destination.

Jeffrey Gural (Photo: Star-Ledger via Standardbred Canada)

One of the candidates, a certain Jeffrey Gural, has submitted his proposal for 50 table for roulette and blackjack, a 1,000 slot machines and a hotel resort at Tioga Downs. The hotel would feature 161 rooms and there would be 6 different restaurants as well. All in all it was a USD 195 million project.

The businessman promised to support non-profit organizations with a yearly USD 1,5 million and to pay part of his tax to support the education. In addition, he would have created thousands of jobs in the area, which suffers from a high unemployment rate.

However, a second businessman, called Jeffrey C. Hyman, started complaining in the very last minute. He said that he was very disappointed, because it was going to be a “seismic project, not just for Binghamton, but for the whole Southern Tier” he said, because the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation had to deal with a fatal blow.

All proposals promised great prospects for the future

A few years ago there were already several casinos in New York. There were 5 Indian casinos and 9 racetracks provided electronic slot machine parlours. Yet Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo intended to expand casino gambling, according to the reports of mobile betting sites.

The determined businessman called 4 casino resorts away from New York City. His pure aim was to create jobs and commercialize the place so that tourists will be more likely to visit there. He also promised taxes for those who are suffering from poverty and unemployment in the region, so he promised a complete solution to many problems.

According to the researches of various analysts, we can find around 60 gambling halls in the Northeastern part of the country. This means that new casinos are not really a great necessity, even though the fact that the vast majority of these casinos can be found in giant cities like Boston, Philadelphia and New York City.

• Only one proposal arrived
• Great improvements were promised
• Mr Gural’s proposal got refused

However, the gambling authority has revised 16 proposals over the past 8 months. They have recommended 3 of those projects in December. One of them is a USD 300 million project in Schenectady, the other is a USD 425 million project in Finger Lakes area, while the third one is a USD 750 million resort, close to Monticello.

Gambling board rejected Mr. Gural’s proposal

2 proposals were rejected from the thinly populated Southern Tier area, and one of those two was the proposal offer of Mr Gural, who owns several racetracks with adjoining parlours. A new round of proposals were asked from the gambling authority, as Mr Cuomo demanded because of his improved project.

Mr Gural also added some part for his project and improved his original plans, but no other casino operators were willing to reconsider a move to the Southern Tier area thanks to its thin population, and the way too strong competition from New York and Philadelphia.

US gambling news report that Mr Hyman has created a plan, which was the greatest competitor of Mr Gural’s Tioga Downs Track. His proposal was going on as a top secret project, he was not even willing to give interviews. His proposal got accepted by the Binghamton City Council last Tuesday, but no names or even tiny details were mentioned about the project.

Mr Hyman was ready to propose a new casino resort and everything seemed to be going on perfectly well for him. He was expected to submit his plans on Monday, but unexpectedly he told on Friday that he learnt that his site had no chance of getting any additional benefits, so he just simply cancelled his project.