A decision by the Northern Territory government to double the number of gaming machines in two Alice Springs pubs is facing opposition from local anti-pokies campaigners.

These anti-gambling campaigners believe the increase in poker machines could heighten social issues in the area.

However, NT Executive Director of Liquor Racing and Gaming Philip Timney has approved the expansion of pokies from 10 to 20 at both the Todd Tavern and Gap View Hotel.

ALSO READ: Australian online casinos

Timney’s decision will be reviewed in the NT Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

Jonathan Pilbrow of the No Pokies in Mparntwe group, representing the locals against the move, said the Alice Spring community does not need any more slots games.

“For decades we’ve known pokie machines are the riskiest form of gambling,” he said.

Pilbrow said the extra poker machines had the potential to harm the indigenous population in the area.

“We’re already grappling with deep-running social problems in town that we believe are being exacerbated by the gaming industry,” he said.

While Iris Capital, owning both pubs, remained silent on the issue, Timney’s past decisions indicate he didn’t foresee the additional machines increasing problem gambling risks in Alice Springs.

He acknowledged, however, the well-documented harms associated with gaming machines. The challenge expects to highlight the inadequacy of Timney’s assessment of the community impact of the increased pokies.

Australia, despite having a huge gambling industry defined by sports betting, retail casinos and lotto games, is yet to legalise online casinos or online pokies, with millions of Australian dollars being spent at gambling sites based overseas yearly.

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As the bidding and pitching process for new casinos to win licenses in and around New York City heats up, we’ll be taking a closer look at some of the local potential impacts. Known collectively as the “downstate New York” casino license tender, at least one new casino will open with two other full-fledged casino licenses possibly going to existing lottery casinos in the area.

The first and second licenses are “widely believed” to be destined for the walls of Resorts World New York in Jamaica, Queens, and MGM’s Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway in that city. Both locations already host large and popular video lottery terminal-fed (VLT) slot machines and table games and could conceivably garner one or both of the first licenses while a third license is entirely up for grabs under costly terms and potentially huge financial benefits.

The Minimum Bid is $500 Million

The minimum bid for each of the three licenses is half a billion dollars, however, as observers have noted in the past, the NYC area could be the biggest untapped casino market on earth with a populace of some 19 million people.

The Brooklyn Paper will be the main source for our article today along with our own reporting and a bag of facts generated by gambling authorities in the state, the World Casino Directory, and other sources as noted throughout the story.

Thor Equities is looking to develop property it owns on Coney Island, a historical icon as well as a southern Brooklyn neighborhood where opinions run hot and cold as well as tepidly indifferent to the prospects of a large new Las Vegas-style casino and entertainment complex there.

Developers believe some 4,000 new jobs would be directly and indirectly created in Brooklyn if the consortium’s eventual bid is ultimately accepted. Not only jobs but good-paying union jobs according to former New York City council member and a pro-casino task force member, Robert Cornegy.

According to the local paper, Cornegy believes that jobs with a decent wage and year-round employment would be created in the neighborhood between gaming, hospitality, and hotel operators opening doors to the middle class for many people who have not had such opportunities in front of them in some time.

Cornegy reportedly told Brooklyn Paper: “Being able to bring decent paying, year-round jobs is something that I feel like I am compelled to push and demand.

“For people of color, black people in particular, labor has created a pathway to the middle class in a lot of different industries. The hotel trade is one of the more lucrative opportunities.”

While some people don’t hold these sorts of jobs in high esteem, Cornegy says they can pay as much as $30 per hour and offer a chance at upward mobility as well as enticing benefits.

He particularly focused on the fact that the neighborhood already has its own “brand” and that built-in advantage could be wasted if it’s not used.

Community Board 13 is a New York City government entity that serves the areas of Brighton Beach, Coney Island, Gravesend, and Sea Gate. Public meetings are still held via Zoom rather than in person but the Board is still active.

Community Board 13 chair, Lucy Mujica Diaz seems to be wary of that number and told the Papoer that she wonders what percentage of those jobs would actually go to community members and stated that the jobs might not be the best match for many community members.

Mujica Diaz is quoted as saying, “I don’t see someone in hospitality lasting that long,” according to Brooklyn Paper. “I don’t think it would be a good fit for some of the people because there are still unanswered questions.”

Statistics for the neighborhood show a slightly higher unemployment rate than the rest of the city overall with 5.6% in Kings County compared to 5.3% for NYC overall.

A member of the “casino bidding team” purportedly stated that recruitment and job training would be preferentially provided to locals. Local job fairs and other “pipelines” of opportunity would also be afforded to local citizens. It may be of interest to note that when Bally’s was pitching its Chicago Casino, the first real casino ever in the nation’s third-largest city, a promised number of jobs and matches was part of the package.

According to Carnegie’s thinking: “I think it’s important to note how far, even when we talk about the disparities in the city, those disparity numbers are always increased in a place like Coney Island,” he said.

Diaz noted that the neighborhood’s current seasonal nature can feed into the lack of job opportunities as well. The Coney Island poverty rate is reportedly 24% while that of the city overall stands at 20%. She worries that locals wouldn’t apply for the obs as even making a single dollar more in salary can increase the rent people in public housing must pay. Over 100,000 New Yorkers live in one of the 79 developments operated by the New York City Housing Authority with about 11,000 Community Board 13 area residents being part of that number. C13 also serves Brighton Beach.

Better Pay is Not Always Attractive

Diaz explained in more detail how the current structure of eligibility for that housing complicates matters and asserted she was confident that not even 50% of the jobs would go to locals. Some senior residents simply don’t want or need full-time “lucrative” employment as the income would simply lower the income insurance benefits they already receive from Social Security.

There are regular community members who are opposed to the casino being located there as well. However, when it comes to “grassroots” organizations it’s not always easy or even possible to know true motives as casino license competitors and other “stakeholders” can easily influence the voice of opposition movements when checks and balances are not established prior the bidding process getting underway. Preliminary bidding for the licenses has officially been underway for several months.

The Paper noted that casino proponents are still in the process of “workshopping” a proposal and haven’t completed their RFP or Request for Proposal which city casino planners began offering in early January.

The state has still not published a submission date for the proposals being sought by the New York State Gaming Facility Location Board.

Cornegy maintains the project would be good for job creation. “This project looks to be one of the largest job creators in southern Brooklyn,” he said.

Source: Developers say proposed Coney Island casino would bring 4,000 new jobs to the People’s Playground, The Brooklyn Paper, June 15, 2023

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As part of a new gaming compact for the Western New York tribe, the Seneca Nation of Indians and the state government are negotiating for a casino in downtown Rochester. 

Seneca Nation has three casinos in the Buffalo area but views Rochester and Monroe County as an opportunity for expansion. If a new agreement is finalised, the tribe may forge ahead with those plans.

The current gaming compact, which was signed in 2002, is set to expire at the end of the year, and Governor Kathy Hochul’s office is awaiting the approval of a law before it can enter into a new 20-year compact. The bill passed the Senate but has not been approved in the Assembly amid concerns from Rochester leaders and neighbouring gambling facilities about the impact of a new casino in the city. 

READ: New York casino contenders ramp up license lobbying

However, ahead of the passage of the bill, the tribe announced last Wednesday that it had reached a preliminary agreement with Hochul’s office on a new compact. Local leaders are, however, shocked by the news of private talks between the Seneca Nation and the state government for a new casino in Rochester. 

On Monday, the Rochester City Council penned a letter to Hochul asking “our Governor, along with both houses of the New York State Legislature, to halt any conversation about a downtown Rochester casino”. The City Council said that “local leaders and citizens have not been consulted or even informed that this (discussion for a casino in Rochester) was under consideration”.

The Rochester Mayor, Malik Evans, in a statement said, “It should be noted that neither City leadership nor members of our New York State delegation has been involved in any conversations related to this possibility. Any conversation of this magnitude that does not include local stakeholders is unacceptable.”

Similarly, the Mayor of Monroe, Adam Bello, said, “It’s deeply troubling that this community has now been placed in this position of debating an issue without knowing the full details of what has been negotiated.”

Meanwhile, Governor Hochul has recused herself due to a potential conflict of interest, as her husband holds an executive position at Delaware North, the Buffalo-based hospitality company that owns Finger Lakes Gaming and Racetrack in nearby Farmington, Ontario County.

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Hollywood Casino Resort just held a two-hour open house for local residents, allowing them to gain insights into its new project planned near Interstate 88. This follows Penn Entertainment’s decision to relocate the casino in Aurora, Illinois – an operation expected to cost $360 million.

Since the casino company seeks to keep fans in touch with the latest developments in the project, Hollywood Casino Resort invited the locals to hear more. City officials and developers attended the two-hour event, answering people’s questions about the relocation of the casino.

The open house event confirmed that construction works are expected to begin later in 2023 if Penn Entertainment successfully secures all necessary approvals. In addition to costing $360 million, the project will see the Aurora casino expanded.

The relocated venue will sport 50 live gaming tables and 900 slot machines. In addition, the adjacent hotel will have 200 rooms ready to accommodate customers. The new Hollywood Casino Resort will also include a bar, a restaurant, a spa and an event center.

However, some of the locals had concerns about the relocation.

Locals Wanted to Know What’s Changing

Pat Weiler is one of the locals who are concerned about the relocation of the Hollywood Casino Resort. He believes that the property was vital to downtown Aurora and noted that the relocation plans came out of nowhere.

While the relocation might have a positive effect on property values, which will be a good thing for the property owners in the area, Sean Morrissey, another local, had some concerns. Morrissey said that while the relocation might be a good thing, he is uncertain who will be paying for this – Aurora taxpayers or the casino owners.

Furthermore, customers posed questions about how traffic would change and what would happen to the former property.

Jeff Morris, Penn Entertainment’s vice president of public affairs, commented on the matter, saying that his team is happy that so many locals are interested in the development. He noted that most of the questions were to be expected and included traffic changes and what improvements are coming to the area, such as new jobs, etc.

Clayton Muhammad, Aurora’s chief communications and equity officer, promised that this open house event is but the first of a series of events. He said that, just as Penn Entertainment promised, consumers will be kept updated and their questions will be answered.

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