4 The Courier sun • JULY 14, 2016 for breaking news visit www.qns.com Hotel & convention center coming to Resorts World By Charlie Perry cperry@qns.com/@QNS Resorts World Casino in South Ozone Park is looking to hit the jackpot as it plans to spend $400 million to build a new hotel and convention complex while adding 1,000 new video-lottery terminals (VLTs). According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the proposal aims to add a 400-room hotel, 20,000-squarefoot spa and resort, and a minimum of 140,000 square feet of convention and meeting space. Additional room for food, retail and casino expansion have also been proposed. “The Aqueduct is the right place and Resorts Casino is the right partner to bring in jobs to the community and much-needed economic resources,” said Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder. The plan would expand Resorts World operations at Aqueduct Racetrack by 750,000 square feet. On June 27, Resorts World Casino President Ryan Eller discussed the proposal with the New York state Franchise Oversight Board. Eller expects the new complex to be opened in April 2019. A spokesman for Resorts World told the WSJ that the multimilliondollar expansion would be built on a parking lot on the west side of the casino. The expansion is currently awaiting approval from the state Franchise Oversight Board. The additional video-lottery terminals would add to the 4,500 electronic gambling machines already in operation on Resorts World grounds. While a percentage of the existing revenue from VLTs is allocated to the New York Racing Association,some of the revenue from the new VLTs will be provided to the Nassau Regional Off-Track Betting (OTB) Corporation. Nassau OTB had proposed building a VLT casino of its own at Belmont Park, but abandoned its plan after the state approved the 1,000 new VLTs at Resorts World through legislation passed this year. Nassau County is expecting to receive a minimum of $9 million in revenue from the added machines in their first year of operation, a spokesman for Norma Gonsalves, presiding officer of the Nassau County Legislator, told the WSJ. Each year after, Nassau County could receive up to $25 million, he told WSJ. Other portions of revenue generated from the electronic gambling terminals would go to the support horse racing and breeding and the state education fund. “Resorts World is already the biggest contributor to this fund in all of New York state, illustrating the popularity of the gaming facilities at this location and how expanding the opportunity to play and experience the new amenities would only lead to more crucial dollars for state education and revenue,” Senator Joseph P. Addabbo Jr. said. Photo: Ellison Bronze Photography LAWMAKER SUES CITY OVER ‘ILEGAL’ PARK NONPROFIT GROUP By Alec Posner editorial@qns.com/@QNS “It’s unacceptable, it’s illegal, and it has to stop.” These are the harsh words that Councilman Rory Lancman used when explaining why he is suing the Queens nonprofit organization Alliance for Flushing Meadows Corona Park. The Alliance was formed to secure funds from developers and other for-profit entities into Flushing Meadows Corona Park in exchange for the use of park resources — the most notable of which, Lancman said, is the area of the park itself. “The USTA needed slightly less than an acre of land to accomplish the massive expansion that it’s doing now and the Willets Point developers wanted to build a shopping center on the Citi Field parking lot, which is technically park land,” he said. The Alliance is being sued by the councilman for two reasons. First, neither Lancman nor any of the City Council members in other neighboring districts of the park were given a spot on the Alliance’s board. Administrative Code Section 18-137(b) requires that nonprofit entities such as the Alliance have as voting board members at least one representative from each overlapping council districts and one representative for each of two abutting districts. According to Lancman, Mayor Bill de Blasio — in forming the Alliance — blatantly disregarded this method of checks and balances. “They did not give board representation to me or two of the other four Council members who represent the park,” Lancman told The Courier. “It violates city charter, it violates city law, and it is not how we should be deciding which projects should be prioritized.” The other reason for the lawsuit, Lancman charged, is that the Alliance is pocketing the money it is receiving from the developers. He went on to say, “In exchange for the city approving those transactions, they got the developers and the USTA to kick in money to the Alliance. If the city is going to be commercializing public park land, that money belongs to the public … not a separate nonprofit that only has separate representation to one park land.” The Courier reached out to the mayor’s office for comment and is awaiting a response. Queens sees the most home foreclosures of any borough By Angela Matua amatua@qns.com/@AngelaMatua New York City has seen a surge of first-time foreclosure auctions this year compared to 2015, and most of these foreclosures are concentrated in Queens, a study found. According to a PropertyShark report, Queens has 302 foreclosed properties scheduled for auction this quarter, the highest number of any borough. This number represents a 43 percent increase from the same time last year, where 211 homes were scheduled for first-time foreclosure auctions. In the second quarter of 2016, there were 673 properties scheduled for auction across the entire city, which represents a 33 percent increase from the same time last year. The amount of firsttime foreclosure auctions has risen to “levels unseen in the past six years,” according to the report. Southeast Queens has been hit hardest by the city’s housing bust in 2008 and the largest foreclosure activity is concentrated in Jamaica, South Jamaica, Hollis and St. Albans, with 32 properties scheduled for auction. The average lien on the properties in the Jamaica area was $413,456. A lien is the amount of debt a homeowner owes to the mortgage lender, which has the right to keep possession of the property until that amount is paid off. The study found that two-family homes were the properties most likely to be auctioned off followed by one-family homes, condos and co-ops. Last month, city officials announced the Community Restoration Program, where the city will purchase 24 distressed mortgages for one- to four-family homes — or 41 residential units — in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. The $13 million program is being funded with $1 million allocated by the City Council and $6.9 million from Goldman Sachs’ Urban Investment Group. A $2.2 million grant from the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and $2.9 million in funds received from Morgan Stanley as part of their settlement obtained by the New York State Attorney General will also fund the program. “Southeast Queens has one of the largest populations still recovering from the bursting of the housing bubble of 2008,” said City Councilman I. Daneek Miller, who represents Jamaica, Hollis and St. Albans. “With a limited number of options to help them get back on sound financial footing, this program will allow families to work with an organization whose focus is on helping them stay in their home, instead of making a profit, and keeping families in their communities.”
SC07142016
To see the actual publication please follow the link above