YANCEY ROY
O-D Albany bureau
Contributing: Michael Krueger and Joseph Spector, Observer-Dispatch
ALBANY - In the first test of New York's massive gambling expansion plans, a state judge Thursday upheld a law authorizing six new casinos in New York and video slot machines at horse-racing tracks.
State Supreme Court Judge Joseph Teresi said earlier federal court rulings allowing Indian-run casinos trump a general prohibition against casino gambling in the New York state constitution.
Teresi also rejected a claim by gambling opponents that video slot machines are in fact slot machines, which are expressly banned by the state. The machines, known as "video lottery terminals," are "true" lottery games similar to Quick Draw and therefore legal, Teresi said.
Video lottery terminals are "substantially similar to the instant scratch-off tickets available 24/7 throughout New York," Teresi wrote.
The legislation also authorized New York to join a multi-state lottery; the state now participates in the "Mega Millions" game.
The Oneida Nation in Verona said it supports the court ruling.
Oneida Nation Senior Media Specialist Jerry Reed said the Nation always has welcomed other New York federally recognized tribes to better themselves.
"The Nation hasn't seen much impact for the other two (casinos)," Reed said, referring to the ruling making way for a larger market and possible competition for Turning Stone Casino.
He said the Nation offers more than gaming.
"We are rapidly becoming a golfing destination and a full-season resort," Reed said.
In terms of money loss from competition, however, "It's too early to tell," he said.
The court decision was well received at Vernon Downs, which plans to introduce video lottery gambling terminals this fall.
"We're excited about it," harness-track marketing director Mark Scalzo said. "We're going full-speed ahead."
Vernon Downs won state Lottery Division for the VLT machines earlier this month. The track expects to break ground Aug. 1 on a new 32,000-square-foot building to house the terminals. The pre-engineered building should be up Oct. 1 and open for business Nov. 1, Scalzo said.
The gambling machines should be a boost for the financially struggling harness track.
"It's all legal and good now," Scalzo said in the wake of Thursday's court ruling. "You'll see a lot of development taking place throughout the whole state."
Jim Moran, Vernon Downs public relations director, said Turning Stone Casino is not viewed as competition.
"We look at it as an opportunity," he said.
Moran said the casino brings in people because it's near the race track.
Anti-gambling opponents vowed to appeal the ruling to a mid-level state court, the Appellate Division. The ruling was hailed by Gov. George Pataki, who prodded the Legislature to approve the gambling expansion in October 2001, just a month after the Sept. 11 attacks and while the state economy was in free fall.
Proponents have said the expansion could bring the state $1 billion annually. So far, just one of the six casinos has been opened, a Seneca Nation casino in Niagara Falls. None of the racetracks have installed video slot machines. However, the Senecas are eyeing another possible casino site in Buffalo, the St. Regis Mohawks have announced plans for one in the Catskill Mountain region and other tribes have been developing plans.
"Obviously, this is taking away the legal impediments that might have existed in the past," Pataki said at a news conference in Buffalo. "So it does make it more likely we'll be able to move forward quickly."
Teresi's ruling is not the last word, said a lawyer for the coalition of casino opponents who filed the lawsuit.
"This is only the first lap," attorney Cornelius Murray said in a statement. "Litigation like this is a marathon, not a sprint. While we are obviously disappointed with the ruling, we are very confident that our clients will ultimately prevail on the merits."
Murray pointed out that gambling opponents recently won a lawsuit declaring that a governor needs the approval of the Legislature before signing gaming compacts with Indian tribes. The gambling opponents had lost initially in the lower courts.
Harness track operators have been counting on video slots to reverse decades of declining revenues. But with the lawsuit pending, none of the tracks had installed the machines yet.
"We want to make sure if we are going to go forward with this we are not going to lose money," said Martin Basinait, president of Western Regional Off-Track Betting, which owns Batavia Downs Racetrack. Basinait, who praised the court ruling, said the OTB board of directors will meet later this month to determine whether to begin construction of a casino-like hall for the slot machines.
Batavia Downs, which reopened last year after being closed for four years, lost $2 million after Western OTB poured $10 million into rebuilding the place. The deficits are projected to end if video lottery terminals are installed.
"It's the salvation of the harness industry in New York state," Basinait said.
Source: UTICAOD.COM
| 
