WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES MARCH 17, 2022 13
Gaming is already here, now let’s make it count
BY RICH MAROKO
Since Governor Kathy Hochul
included a proposal in her
executive budget that would allow
for casino licenses to be issued
in the downstate area two months
ago, there has been much debate
over whether or not to bring gaming
to New York City.
But if we’re being honest with
ourselves, that debate is in our
rearview mirror because gaming
– in the form of mobile sports betting
– is already happening right
here and right now.
What still lies ahead is the most
important benefit gaming offers
and the one thing that mobile gaming
has not and cannot provide:
the jobs and boost to our hospitality
and tourism industries that an
acceleration of full casino gaming
options would bring.
Since mobile sports betting came
online in New York just six weeks
ago, we have seen a record-breaking
$2.8 billion in bets wagered by millions
of New Yorkers, and that’s
with March Madness and the NBA
playoffs still to come. All that
money changing hands may make
for impressive statistics, but not a
cent of it is landing in the pockets of
those who need it most, namely the
thousands of unemployed hospitality
workers who would immediately
benefit from an expansion of full
casino gaming in the downstate
area.
As president of the union that
represents gaming and hospitality
workers, I can say based on firsthand
knowledge that our hotel and
tourism industries have been hit
harder and struggled longer than
almost any other sector due to
COVID. New York may be rebounding,
but the thousands of jobs and
billions in tourism revenue won’t
unless we do something drastic
and immediate to turn the tide. An
expansion of gaming options is the
game-changer we have been waiting
for and that we desperately need.
According to a report issued last
year by Spectrum Gaming Group
for the New York State Gaming
Commission, the economic impact
of downstate commercial casinos
would be enormous. Thousands of
extremely high-quality jobs with
full health benefits, $1.5 billion in
licensing fees, and hundreds of millions
in revenue annually for the
state, including money for public
education, are just some of the critical
reasons for bringing full casino
gaming to the downstate area.
With nearly half of our unionized
OP-ED
hotel workforce still unemployed
due to the pandemic and two years
of diminished business and leisure
travel bookings, we don’t have the
luxury of getting this wrong. We
know the new jobs that will be created
will be good jobs because we
already have seen what these jobs
mean for our members who work at
existing gaming facilities.
At Resorts World Casino in
Queens and Empire City Casino
in Yonkers, where only electronic
gaming options are currently available,
our members receive familysustaining
salaries of about $70,000
per year, with cost-free, high-quality
healthcare and defined pension
plans. Combined with the strongest
workplace protections in the industry,
thanks to our union contract,
these jobs are truly unique, but they
shouldn’t be exclusive to those who
already have them.
Thousands of New Yorkers, including
many hospitality workers
who have been unemployed since
the start of the pandemic could
find themselves back to work if we
took this unique moment to double
down on this economic opportunity
by permitting full casino gaming
operations in the downstate area.
Tourism workers have endured
the most difficult economic challenges
of their lives over the past
two years, but now we have the opportunity
of a lifetime to begin to
turn things around. With billions
of dollars already being wagered
online by state residents over the
course of just a few weeks, there is
no reason not to expand gaming operations
that benefit actual working
New Yorkers by creating good jobs.
All that’s left is for the state to act
now and approve the acceleration of
downstate gaming licenses.
Rich Maroko is president of the
40,000-member NY Hotel & Gaming
Trades Council, the union for hotel
and gaming workers in New York and
northern New Jersey.
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THE WAY WE WERE
PHOTO BY JOE ABATE
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