New York’s racetrack casinos posted record growth in slot machine revenue in the first quarter of this year, according to figures compiled by the New York Gaming Association, an industry group. The state’s nine racetrack casinos saw gross revenues rise by about $23 million to $472.9 million, an increase of more than 5 percent. At the same time, competitors in Atlantic City, Connecticut and Pennsylvania experienced declining revenues. “The numbers don’t deceive,” James Featherstonhaugh, the New York Gaming Association’s president, said… [More]

This year’s budget could wind up the smoothest in 30 years, cruising to passage before the session breaks for Passover and Easter holidays at the end of the month.… [More]

The key players and issues regarding casinos and gambling.… [More]

Robert Williams, David Skorton, John Bonacic, Gary Pretlow and Steve Cymbrowitz on Casinos and Gambling. … [More]

Some formidable opponents stand in the way of New York’s casino amendment.… [More]

If the governor’s plan goes forward, who could get an upstate casino? … [More]

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has never been a big fan of casino expansion in New York City. When the proposal for a casino at Willets Point recently surfaced, his administration quickly shot it down, saying it had been dismissed months earlier. When Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the first phase of any casino expansion would be exclusively in upstate New York, the mayor wasn’t disappointed, saying a casino might not even be “appropriate” in New York City. But if Las Vegas-style… [More]

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s 2013 legislative agenda was already poised to be an ambitious one, with education reform, economic development and creating a state campaign finance system among the governor’s crowded list of policy goals. Then came Superstorm Sandy, which pummeled New York City, and the tragic shootings in Newtown, Conn., and Webster, N.Y., crises that immediately shifted the state’s priorities and added a whole new set of challenges to be overcome. “The agenda that we laid out today is clearly… [More]

This could be the year that New York legalizes casino gambling. Of course, if you ask Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the state is already in the gambling business, and it’s about time state government acknowledges that fact, and figures out the best way to regulate it and distribute its revenues. “Now, some people will say, ‘Well, New York is not in the casino business. We’re in the racino business,’ ” Cuomo asserted in his State of the State address earlier this… [More]

Gov. Andrew Cuomo delivered a broad and far-reaching State of the State address that had many in Albany pondering whether his ambitions pointed toward another capital six hours to the south. … [More]