The players holding the keys to the next round of downstate casino approvals
Originally published in
City & State New York
on
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After years of bureaucracy, projects taken up and cast aside, the time has come for more casino-related bureaucracy: The state Gaming Commission has closed applications for up to three full downstate casino licenses it is slated to award by the end of this year. But a crucial hurdle for each of the eight proposals is the approval of a Community Advisory Committee by a two-thirds vote, which each must do by Sept. 30. The members of each committee are selected by the governor, the local mayor or county executive, and state and city lawmakers. In some cases, the members – who were just appointed this week – are the elected officials themselves or the appointers’ staffers, but others are figures largely out of the public eye. So who are the people tasked with making this critical casino approval? We looked into it.
The Coney – Coney Island, Brooklyn
Gov. Kathy Hochul – Portia Henry
State Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton – Herself
Assembly Member Alec Brook-Krasny – Marissa Solomon
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso – Himself
New York City Mayor Eric Adams – Alex Sommer
New York City Council Member Justin Brannan – Himself
