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Spitzer inks casino deal with Mohawks

February 20, 2007
By Brendan Scott
Times Herald Record

Albany — If the decades-long quest to restore the Catskills' past glory with an Indian casino is a game of high-stakes poker, then Gov. Eliot Spitzer just dealt casino supporters a full house. Now they'll have to see if the other guy blinks.

The governor announced yesterday that he has signed a comprehensive agreement that would allow the St. Regis Mohawks and their partners, Empire Resorts, to build a sprawling casino at Monticello Gaming and Raceway.

"This is an important step, if not the final conclusion," Spitzer said in an interview with the Times Herald-Record. He signed the compact "because 3,000 full-time jobs, a $600 million development project, is critically important for Sullivan County, the Catskills, and I look forward to getting this done."

As part of the pact, Spitzer signed off on the project's environmental impact statement, leaving final approval in the hands of the U.S. Interior Department. That would put the prospect of casino gaming closer to the lucrative New York City market than at any time in recent history. It would also send tens of millions of dollars in new gaming revenues streaming into the state's coffers each year.

Under the compact, the state would receive 20 percent of slot-machine revenues for the first two years, 23 percent for the next two years and 25 percent thereafter. The tribe has also agreed to comply with health and labor laws and charge state taxes on alcohol and cigarettes. That money, plus the promise of new jobs and surrounding development, would give casino advocates the payday they've been dreaming about. Still, there's no such thing as a sure bet, especially when your dealer is a Washington bureaucracy.

Unlike most Indian gaming facilities, the Mohawks are proposing to build their casino on land that is not part of any reservation. To make that happen, the Interior Department would have to agree to take the casino's 30-acre site into trust, something it has done only three times before.

Some fear the practice threatens to accelerate the recent explosion of Indian gaming. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne has expressed opposition to increasing the number of "off-reservation" casinos.

The casino would also face a number of likely court challenges, such as a federal lawsuit filed last week by a coalition of environmental groups.

That's why it's important that Spitzer played such a strong hand. Reaching an unequivocal compact with the Mohawks less than two months after taking office sends a signal that the state is fully behind the project.

"We go to the federal government with broad general political support for the casino, which is important," said Spitzer's special counsel, Richard Rifkin, who negotiated the deal. "We can make a very strong case that a casino at Monticello

Raceway makes a lot of sense."

Catskill casino roller coaster

  • 1998: The Bureau of Indian Affairs Eastern Office approves St. Regis Mohawks’ land trust application for a casino at Monticello Raceway.
  • 2000: The Interior Department OKs a St. Regis Mohawk casino at Monticello Raceway. Weeks later, Mohawks leave Monticello for Park Place Entertainment and casino at Kutsher’s Sports Academy.
  • 2001: Park Place agrees to pay Sullivan County $15 million per year for a casino at Kutsher’s and vows to break ground by 2002 and open in 2004. The state Legislature OKs a gaming bill to allow up to six new Indian-owned casinos in the Catskills and Buffalo region, video slot machines at horse-racing tracks, including Monticello, and multi-state lotteries.
  • 2003: Gov. George Pataki signs $100 million-plus deal with Mohawks to end their land-claim lawsuit against the state and open a casino at Kutsher’s.
  • 2004: Pataki pushes for five casinos in the Catskills. Mighty M Gaming opens with 1,800 video slot machines at track.
  • 2005: Cayuga tribe ends deal with Empire Resorts for a casino at Monticello; Sullivan legislators OK five-casino deal. Months later, Pataki withdraws five-casino legislation. The Mohawks leave Kutsher’s and go to Empire Resorts for a casino at the raceway.
  • 2006: Feds give environmental approval for a $600 million Mohawk casino at raceway.
  • 2007: Gov. Eliot Spitzer OKs gaming compact and gives his concurrence for a Mohawk casino.

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