Resorts World New York City (RWNYC), run by a unit of casino group Genting Malaysia Bhd, is scheduled to launch next Tuesday (April 28) the first ever live table-game operation in downstate New York. The step is still dependent on the New York Gaming Commission’s final testing this week, the company said in a press release this Tuesday.
The RWNYC property in Queens, New York City, is currently an electronic gaming venue. It would be upgraded and expanded as a full-scale casino resort.
The New York State Gaming Commission voted in December to award full casino licences to three sets of investors for downstate New York, including to Genting New York LLC, a subsidiary of Genting Malaysia.
Genting New York’s proposal entails a US$5.5-billion expansion up to 2030 of the existing venue, and a US$600-million upfront licence fee, in exchange for a 30-year licence.
The property’s third floor will from next week feature “over 240 table games”, offering blackjack, craps, baccarat and roulette, the firm said. It will also offer more than 2,500 slot machines with “various multi-million dollar jackpots,” it stated.
The release cited Robert DeSalvio, president of Genting Americas East, as saying that once the New York Gaming Commission’s final testing is complete, “live table games will be open and operating right here in Queens for the first time in the history of New York City”.
The group said the property’s refreshment resulted in 1,250 new jobs, including 950 new table-game dealers.
Mr DeSalvio said RWNYC currently employs about 2,200 workers, having “doubled” its workforce and “expecting thousands more” employees as the complex is “developed over the next three years”. The workforce is expected to grow to over 2,700 people by summer.
Genting group chairman, Lim Kok Thay, and hip-hop artist NAS are set to attend the launch ceremony on Tuesday. They will be joined by elected officials, community leaders and entertainers, per the update.
Fitch Ratings Inc said this week that Genting New York could be insulated from “air travel woes” linked to the global oil crisis, as its customer base is “mostly” domestic.
RWNYC proposed the highest gaming tax rate of the three approved bidders, at 56 percent on slots and 30 percent on gaming tables.
But CBRE Equity Research said in a note at the end of March, that the property was likely to benefit from a multiyear “first-mover advantage” in the emerging downstate New York casino market.
