A Deeper Look At New York's Powerful Casino Location Board
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Ken Sturm is a businessman who owns two restaurants in Times Square. He supports a proposal by SL Green Realty, Jay-Z’s Roc Entertainment, and Caesars Entertainment to build a Las Vegas-style casino in a high rise in the area. The Broadway League and Community Board 5 oppose the proposal. The group is also opposed to a competing plan for a casino at nearby Hudson Yards.
The Gaming Facility Location Board will issue a Request for Application by Jan. 2. The RFA must be issued by January 6. Two of the three downstate casino licenses are up for grabs. Existing racinos in Yonkers and at Aqueduct in Queens are considered likely recipients of two of them. The board has wide-ranging powers to issue the R FA and develop the criteria to evaluate the plans.
Stuart Rabinowitz served on the Gaming Facility Location Board when it was discussing and deciding on upstate casinos in 2014-15. He was the president of Hofstra University for 20 years ending in 2021. Rabbiowitz is a senior attorney at Meltzer, Lippe, Goldstein & Breitstone LLP.
Quenia A. Abreu is the president and chief executive officer of the New York Women’s Chamber of Commerce. She was born in the Dominican Republic and raised in New Yorkers.
Vicki L. Been is a law professor at New York University. She focuses her work on the intersection of land use, urban policy, and housing. Been clerked for Judge Edward Weinfeld and for former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun.
