Say the word “casino” in the Catskills and there”™s a good chance you”™ll get a snicker.
Despite disbelief among residents that casino gambling will ever really come to the once-robust resort area, federal, state and local officials hailed the compact signed last week between Gov. David Paterson and the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribe of Mohicans. It ends the tribe”™s claim on 23,000 acres of land in Madison County. In exchange, the tribe receives 330 acres along the Neversink River in the town of Thompson.
Although U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, along with state and local officials who joined Paterson at the Sullivan County legislative chambers in Monticello are confident the pact will be honored, it needs to be approved by the U.S. Department of the Interior, one of many hurdles it must undergo before even breaking ground.
If successful, the Stockbridge-Munsee project in the Thompson hamlet of Bridgeville would include a 750-room hotel, restaurants and retail outlets, as well as coveted casino gambling.
The tribe”™s development plans have been in the hopper since 2001, when six different Indian nations vied for similar rights in the fading resort area.
Paterson”™s office is projecting the deal could generate more than $1.3 billion during construction; and once operational, could bring $900 million to the state coffers, $15 million a year to Sullivan and create nearly 7,000 direct and indirect jobs in Sullivan.
According to a statement released by the governor”™s office, the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribe of Mohicans also entered into a Local Services Agreement with local municipalities to provide $15 million a year to mitigate any potentially adverse impacts from the project. While it may be a good read ”“ and one that Schumer and others have pushed for ”“Â the deal must be approved by Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. Off-reservation gambling was ended under former Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, and no one”™s been sold on the idea.
Mark Emery, director of media relations for the Oneida Nation of New York, issued a written statement Nov. 17, five days before Paterson signed the deal with the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribe of Mohicans: “We, and presumably every other Indian nation, were surprised to learn that the state of New York would invite an out-of-state tribe to conduct gaming, which means all of the profits will be drained from New York and returned to their home in Wisconsin.”
Further, said Emery, “It is a backwards economic policy and is yet another lost opportunity to use the opportunities in the Catskills for the state to resolve its disputes with New York tribes. The idea that the state was settling a Stockbridge land claim is laughable, as the claim relates to Oneida Nation homelands and nobody honestly believes the Stockbridge ever had a legitimate claim here.”
The Oneidas own and operate Turning Stone Casino in Verona, which opened in 1993.
Paterson also announced last week that the state will be working with Empire Resorts to develop a plan for a nearly $100 million expansion of its video lottery facility at Monticello Raceway.
