Edited by:  TJVNews.com

Now that community board 13 of Coney Island has adamantly rejected consortium proposals to build a casino and entertainment complex, the question arises as to possible alternative locations throughout New York City that would welcome a gambling hub.

As other gaming operators are vying for one of three downstate casino licenses, it was reported that Gaming giant Bally’s is betting on The Bronx. They have proposed the establishment of a casino on the Trump Organization’s public golf course at Ferry Point, the Post reported.

Genting/ Resorts World and MGM’s Empire City, the owners of the existing slot machine parlors at the Aqueduct race track in Ozone Park, Queens, and Yonkers race track are expected to submit bids to expand their offerings to include table games such as black jack and roulette.

Meanwhile, Mets owner and hedge fund titan, Steve Cohen has expressed a strong interest in establishing a casino near the team’s stadium in Flushing, the Post reported. It would potentially create a partnership with Seminole Hard Rock. A 25,000-seat professional soccer stadium is also planned in the vicinity.

Other venues that are currently being considered are New York City’s Hudson Yards, with Stephen Ross’ Related Companies and Wynn Resorts planning a bid to operate a casino on Manhattan’s West Side.

Others planning bids to operate a casino the landlord SL Green/Caesars Entertainment team in Times Square.

The Post also reported last week that the Sands Casino struck a deal with Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman to open a gaming facility and entertainment complex at the old Nassau Coliseum hub in Uniondale if the state grants it a license.

As to Bally’s interest in the Bronx as a possible site for a casino, the Post reported in February 2023 that sources familiar with the corporation’s plan said its officials have engaged in discussions with the Trump Organization about assigning 17 of the 300 acres on the site at Ferry Pont to Bally’s to operate a casino.

The property is owned by the city and the real estate company and former President Donald Trump’s business empire now run by two of his sons, Donald Jr. and Eric Trump. The Post reported that it has a 20-year contract with the Parks Department to operate it as a golf course.

Bally’s plan would only require 10 acres for its casino, with the other seven going to a green space or other uses such as housing for workers, according to the sources, as was reported by the Post.

Long-term, Bally’s would like to take over the entire property from the Trump Organization which at one time was a garbage dump, according to sources familiar with the casino company’s thinking.

The Post reported in February that the project could create over 15,000 construction jobs and more than 3,500 permanent, high-paying union jobs with salaries starting at $70,000, plus benefits and retirement, sources familiar with the project told the paper.

In a statement sent to the Post in February,  a spokesman for Bally’s said,  “We are incredibly excited at the prospect of bringing Bally’s community centered approach to gaming and entertainment to The Bronx. At Bally’s, we start with the proposition that the leaders in the community know what is best for their community.”

Bally’s vowed that Bronx small businesses and residents will have the opportunity to “share in the economic prosperity and access to amenities” provided by the casino “for generations to come.”  The Post reported.

“We couldn’t be more grateful at the prospect of writing the next chapter of Bally’s storied history in the Bronx,” the spokesperson said.

On April 28th, the Post reported that hedge fund titan Steve Cohen is pursuing the rights to build a casino in Queens with the same zeal with which he has stockpiled the high-priced roster of his Mets, according to a report.

Cohen, whose net worth is valued by Bloomberg at $13.1 billion through his ownership of the Point72 Asset Management hedge fund, has hired an army of lobbyists to persuade local officials to grant him a license to operate one of three casinos planned for the New York City area, the Post reported.

Bloomberg News reported that Warren Schreiber, who heads a Queens civic organization opposed to the casino said that Cohen, “ has hired the best team that money can buy.”

The Post reported that Bloomberg News also indicated that Cohen was the largest single donor to Mayor Eric Adams’s 2021 election campaign, pumping $2 million into outside PACs to support Adams in the Democratic primary.

Bloomberg News also reported that Cohen’s chief of staff at Point72, Michael Sullivan, has contributed to the political campaigns of elected officials who will grant approval for a casino license, including New York Governor Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers from Queens.

The Mets owner, who is vying for the prized license against heavyweight competitors such as the Adelson family-owned Las Vegas Sands, Resorts World, Related Cos. and Wynn Resorts, is reportedly partnering with Seminole Hard Rock on a bid to build a gaming site on land adjacent to Citi Field in Flushing, Queens, the Post reported.

In September 2022, the Post reported that the real estate giant, Related Companies, headed by Stephen M. Ross, has teamed up with Wynn Resorts to “pursue” a casino license for the western rail yard — the proposed second half of the 28-acre Hudson Yards complex.

Building the Yards’ western portion, which is now an exposed and sunken train yard, has been a priority not only for Related, but for Gov. Kathy Hochul as it was for her predecessor Andrew Cuomo, the Post reported in September.

The Wynn deal confirms a longstanding buzz that Related was chasing a gaming-industry partner to put its chips down in the west side yard, the Post reported. The $25 billion development plan for residential and office towers and a new park between Eleventh Avenue and the Hudson River in the West 30s was stalled by the pandemic.

But a green light to build a spectacular casino/hotel/entertainment complex could kickstart the project, which requires a deck to be built over the tracks as was done for the eastern portion, the Post reported. The casino would be situated close to the recently expanded Jacob Javits Convention Center.

On April 26th, the Post reported that Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman endorsed a controversial plan that would allow Las Vegas Sands Corp. to operate a casino at the old Nassau Coliseum site.

The county owns the property around Nassau Coliseum and Blakeman announced a 99-year lease with Sands during a press conference last week, according to the Post.

The deal is not sitting well with local educational leaders, the Post reported and it is far from done.

State regulators would have to award the Las Vegas Sands a license to operate, and the Post reported that the Republican-controlled Nassau County legislature must also give its blessing to the transfer of property to Sands.

Speaking to the Post in a phone interview, Blakeman told them last week that, “The Sands complex at the Nassau Hub will become the number one entertainment facility in the United States.”

The Sands gaming complex would also include a luxury hotel, meeting space, a spa and an  entertainment venue separate from the casino, the Post reported.