The community advisory commission for Resorts World’s casino plan held its first public hearing on Wednesday at Queens Borough Hall. Rendering via Resorts World
By Ryan Schwach
Of the more than 40 speakers who testified before the community advisory committee for the Resorts World casino project on Wednesday, every single one spoke in favor of the Queens gaming company’s $5.5 billion proposal to become the largest casino in the United States.
The hearing was the first for the community panel that has been appointed to review Resorts World’s pitch for expansion as the “racino” bids for one of the three downstate casino licenses that are currently up for grabs.
The overwhelmingly positive parade of support lauded Resorts World’s plan for expansion as one of the seven bidders for the downstate licenses, and the company’s work as a community partner.
Although, nearly all of the community members and leaders who testified at the hearing had a history with Resorts World and their organization has directly benefited from the racino through either funding or programming.
Resorts World is pitching its plan before a community advisory committee, whose support is crucial for all casino bidders as they hit the several hurdles towards a potential approval.
Resorts World’s CAC is made up of Queens Borough President Richards, State Senator James Sanders and State Assemblymember Stacey Pheffer Amato – who chairs the committee – who all appointed themselves to Resorts World’s CAC. Governor Kathy Hochul appointed her deputy director of intergovernmental affairs on Long Island, Stevens Martinez, to the CAC, while Mayor Eric Adams appointed Nicole Garcia, who serves as the Queens borough commissioner of the city’s Department of Transportation.
City Councilmember Adrienne Adams, whose district includes Resorts World, appointed Betty Braton, the chair of Community Board 10, to serve on the CAC.
For nearly two hours on Wednesday at Queens Borough Hall, community members and local non-profit leaders lined up to sing Resorts World’s praises, both for the project and their previous community efforts.
“With the state considering up the three new down state casino licenses, we have a once in a lifetime opportunity in a generation to grow our economy and create thousands of middle class jobs in the communities that need the most,” said Tom Grech, CEO of the Queens Chamber of Commerce. “Resorts World also strengthened Queens small business ecosystem by prioritizing local vendors and encouraging guests to shop and dine locally by prioritizing local hiring, building career ladders and supporting small businesses. Resorts World is helping preserve and grow the middle class in Queens, their expansion will bring sustainable growth, strengthen local businesses and invest directly [into Queens].”
Resorts World partners with many groups and non-profits in Queens, and many of those partners expressed support for the gaming company’s expansion.
“Resorts World has been there and continues to be an important part of our success and the success of other tiny non-profits throughout Southeast Queens, and obviously the borough,” said Greg Mays, founder and executive director of non-profit A Better Jamaica.
Resorts World’s pitch is mostly an expansion of the gaming already provided at the racino, and includes the opening of 800 gaming tables and the expanding to 6,000 slot machines.
The proposal also includes plans to build 2,000 hotel rooms, a 7,000-seat arena, 30 bars and restaurants, a spa, a day club, a convention area and 12-acres of public green space. Resorts World claims the project would create up to 24,000 jobs.
Resorts World has also committed to putting $1.5 billion into community benefits, including $150 million toward infrastructure improvements, $50 million toward its proposed “innovation campus” and $25 million to its existing charity program, Resorts World Gives.
“We literally wrote the book on how to run an effective, responsible gaming program in New York City, and our community has embraced a casino at Aqueduct,” said Chief Strategy and legal officer for Resorts World Kevin Jones at the hearing on Wednesday.
Resorts World is also keeping its cards close to its chest about some details of the proposal.
The company’s application to the state’s Gaming Commission submitted in June is littered with redactions, as is the case with all the casino license applications. The redactions are allowed by the commission in an effort to help preserve trade secrets and maintain competitive advantages.
But, as the Eagle reported in July, while some casino hopefuls chose to only redact smaller sections of their applications, Resorts World appeared to take a more heavy handed approach to blacking out the public documents.
Nearly all of the well-over 100 documents submitted to the Gaming Commission by Resorts World were completely redacted when posted online to the commission’s website – both the commission and Resorts World’s Community Advisory Committee were given non-redacted versions of the documents.
Some of the redactions appear on documents detailing more strategic elements of the proposal, including financial forecasts, market research and their construction timeline. Similar documents were redacted by the other casino applicants.
But Resorts World, which has been in operation in Queens for the past 15 years, also redacted documents detailing more mundane information, like their organizational chart, the number of parking spots they plan to have, and the restaurants they hope to open.
They also redacted documents featuring information that is already public, like a document that lists the lobbyists they employed for the project and one that lists the firms they are partnering with. Only one other bidder chose to redact information about the firms they were working with and only two others chose to redact information about the lobbyists they employed.
In their application, Resorts World told the Gaming Commission that they expect to bring in $2.2 billion annually in revenue by 2027 if granted a license. But when asked by the CAC in July about the revenue they expect the project to generate, Resorts Worlds officials took a more opaque approach.
“In the application, there’s information that was presented, most of which I’m sure has been redacted,” said Robert DeSalvio, the president of Genting Americas East, the company that owns Resorts World New York City. “We know that we already do $1 billion in revenue today, so that number will go substantially higher, but I’d rather we wait till the final [supplemental] application is put in before we really give you the final.”
Resorts World was one of the first bidders to present their project to their respective CACs earlier this summer, and with an existing operation would likely allow it to open far sooner than some of the other proposed projects. According to Resorts World, they could begin to welcome full-scale casino guests as early as July 2026. By comparison, some of the other proposals likely wouldn’t open for at least half a decade.
People who testified at the first public hearing for Resorts World’s casino plan spoke overwhelmingly in support of the $5.5 billion plan. Screenshot via New York State Gaming Commission 
“Resorts World is a clear choice for a down state commercial license,” said Jones. “We have the fastest speed to market of anyone, and we have the ability to open in six months from licensure by next summer.”
Four of the six CAC members have to vote in support of the project in order for the Gaming Commission to consider it for a license.
For Resorts World, a few of the six members of the CAC have publicly praised the project.
Sanders, Pheffer Amato and Braton have praised Resorts World in the past. Braton said the racino had been with the neighborhood “in good times and tough times…giving both financial support and their time to this community,” when the company announced its expansion plans last year.
Pheffer Amato said during a press event at Resorts World in January that she “love[s] to gamble” and that she’s “a frequent person in this casino.”
Richards has also spoken highly of Resorts World and its work in the community.
Each of the bidders’ CACs will hold at least two public hearings on their respective projects before Sept. 30, the day each of the CACs’ recommendations are due.
The Resorts World CAC is hosting its second public hearing on Sept. 15 at Queens Borough Hall at 4 p.m.
Here are the other seven bidders hoping to win one of the three casino licenses – the Avenir, proposed to built on Manhattan’s West Side; Bally’s, proposed to be built on the Ferry Point golf course in the Bronx; Caesars Palace, planned for Times Square; The Coney, proposed for Coney Island; Freedom Plaza, proposed to be built next to the United Nations building on 1st Avenue in Manhattan; MGM Empire City, the existing partial casino in Yonkers and Metropolitan Park, proposed to be built in Citi Field’s parking lot in Queens.
The Gaming Commission is expected to award three bidders with a license before the end 2025.
