Quote:
Originally Posted by Doubleu1117
If (and who are we kidding, it's when) this get's pushed to 2026, everyone involved should be forced to resign and get people in who can run a functioning government.
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This is squarely on Hochul. She blames the delay on wanting all of the local zoning issues completed before any applicant is able to present a proposal. But that's not what happened with the other state casinos. Hochul specifically put in that provision. And to make matters worse, she is requiring all proposals to show "community support", when everyone who's ever done anything in New York City knows the community boards will never support large developments, no matter if the alternative is just as large.
But both houses of state government voted on a change that would have head the deadline for submission earlier this year. It just needed Hochul's approval, which she did not give, citing New York City's ULURP process as a reason. This could have all been done without it.
So what we got is a convoluted process of licensing:
1 - The city itself had to provide a zoning provision for casinos in the city, something it never had. This too could have been done earlier, but the city assumed the state would account for it just as it did the other casinos. So this had to work itself through the approvals process, which involved the community boards and local politicians.
2 - Once that was settled, the individual proposals had to go through the ULURP process, which also involves the community boards and local politicians.
3 - Once all of that is completed, now begins the State process of trying to show support, each proposal having its own individual committee. Because why not make it as complicated as possible? And once again this will involve the community boards and local politicians.
4 - Once those proposals are whittled down, the State will determine which 3 (assuming that many remain) meet the highest qualifications set below:
They're looking for big economic development and impact, something the existing racinos at Aqueduct and Yonkers (Empire City) aren't strong on.