A bill awaits the signature of Gov. Kathy Hochul to potentially expedite that already drawn-out process of downstate casino licensing in New York.
And while the New York State Gaming Commission is on board with the legislation and will follow the governor’s directive, the Gaming Facility Location Board (GFLB) is looking to set its own timeline.
During Thursday’s meeting of the GFLB, members of the board addressed several amendments that had expired since they were first issued in January 2023. The most notable concerned language in the original request for applications (RFA) that triggered a 30-day deadline for applications after regulators posted the second round of answers. The GFLB struck out that language and instead set an application deadline of June 27, 2025.
New downstate NY casino application deadline set for June 2025
That June date is a far cry from the timeline set forth in recent legislation passed by lawmakers in the Senate and Assembly.
In that bill, bidders must submit applications by Aug. 31, 2024. What’s more, the bill states that Community Advisory Committees must make final recommendations for licensing by Feb. 27, 2025.
“This obviously is different from the deadline for applications that we originally set forward, and it’s also different from the proposed legislation that was passed by both houses of the legislature of New York, but the governor hasn’t yet signed that,” noted Stuart Rabinowitz, a member of the GFLB.
“So it’s my understanding that it is within our power to set our own deadline based on our assessment of what’s fair and workable and efficient, and that’s why I personally think – and I think the motion says – that the August deadline of this year is too soon and would put some potential applicants under a lot of pressure and would favor some and disfavor others.
“The deadline of now June 27 would be enough time for both the applicants to be ready and prepare and be within the New York City deadline for zoning as of right and at the same time would be early enough for us to thoroughly consider the applications when the came in and would meet what is our deadline of Dec. 31, 2025.”
Rabinowitz noted that if Hochul signed off on the lawmakers’ bill that the GFLB “would abide by whatever the rules are. … In that absence of that, I think this makes a lot of sense.”
Vicki Been, chair of the GFLB, followed up:
“The hope would be that our reasoning would also be convincing to the governor.”
Second set of answers could come within a month
Earlier in the week, the New York State Gaming Commission noted during its own meeting that it would “follow whatever process the governor directs that the law should reflect.”
According to Robert Williams, executive director of the NYSGC, now that the GFLB struck down the 30-day trigger: “Our full goal is to have a draft set of answers within a month.”
While the bill on Hochul’s desk and this latest deadline proposal from the GFLB are nearly a year apart, at the very least, some clarity has begun to emerge for the awarding of three downstate licenses, which could allow holders to offer online casinos in New York once lawmakers legalize iGaming.
For some time, there was confusion and frustration among lawmakers and potential bidders, especially once officials set a late-2025 deadline in March.
