Published October 31, 2011
By LEE U-WEN
(SINGAPORE) Malaysia's Genting Group threw open the doors to its Resorts World New York (RWNY) casino on Friday (Saturday morning Singapore time) as thousands of eager gamblers thronged the US$830 million facility and continued to arrive in droves throughout the weekend.
Located in the borough of Queens, the sprawling casino - the first-ever in New York and one that marks Genting's first expansion into the lucrative US gaming market - is expected to generate at least US$500 million each year in tax revenue for the state, said RWNY president Michael Speller.
'This is an opportunity for New Yorkers to have a Las Vegas-like experience without having to leave the city,' he said, adding that New York loses about US$5 billion in gaming revenue to casinos located in the three neighbouring states of Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
A team of high-level Genting executives, led by group chairman Lim Kok Thay, were on hand to join several New York elected officials for the ribbon-cutting ceremony at RWNY, a 700,000 square foot property built at the historic Aqueduct Racetrack. RWNY is located about an hour's train ride from downtown Manhattan.
Inside, wide-eyed residents and tourists - some of whom had queued for over two hours to get in - made a beeline for the more than 2,480 jackpot machines and electronic table games at the aptly-named Times Square Casino, the first of RWNY's three casino areas.
The second phase of construction is expected to be finished by the end of December with the opening of the Fifth Avenue and Crockfords Casinos, adding a further 2,515 machines.
'The opening of RWNY is a historic moment,' said New York senator Joe Addabbo. 'To witness a dilapidated area become vibrant, to become an economic engine is just incredible. This is a new era for the community and a win for all.'
Mr Speller added that he was proud of the fact that RWNY would give permanent jobs to 1,350 New Yorkers, of which 89 per cent were either minorities or women.
With over 41,000 people applying for the vacancies over the past few months, he said that RWNY would work with the state's officials to find more ways to create additional employment as soon as possible. The current unemployment rate in New York is 9.7 per cent, higher than the national average of 9.1 per cent.
One of the unique features about RWNY is that the table games such as baccarat or poker are not manned by actual people, but by robot dealers.
This is due to New York's state laws and regulations that allow electronic gaming but not human dealers. The baccarat tables, for instance, feature real cards that are shuffled and dealt out to patrons by robot-like mechanical arms.
Mr Speller said that he was looking to state legislators to expand commercial gambling after the 2012 elections to include conventional gambling. He added that if this was legalised across New York's nine racetracks, the move could result in at least US$1 billion extra in tax revenues going into the state's coffers.
And despite the heavy criticism that comes along with any new casino opening, it seems that many New Yorkers are looking forward to finally having a legalised facility in their backyard for their gambling fix.
'We just really want to have fun,' Queens resident Reggie Haughton was quoted as telling the Queens Courier, the borough's largest weekly news publication. 'Times are tough, yes, but that doesn't mean we can't come out and enjoy ourselves. We deserve it.'
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