NEWS
NYRA says SL Green best prepared
for Aqueduct racino
Posted: Wednesday, October 14, 2009 9:55 AM
by Paul Post
While stopping short of a formal endorsement, New York Racing Association says SL Green Realty is the best prepared to open Aqueduct’s racino of any of the firms bidding on the 30-year gaming contract.
“We know exactly what they want to do and we support their plan,” NYRA President Charles Hayward said Tuesday. “They’ve worked very closely with us, made numerous site visits with architects and engineers, and gone over their marketing plans. We know how they would use the building, how racing and gaming would be integrated. All that’s been discussed in high-level detail. We really haven’t had those discussions with anybody else.”
“We’re not endorsing anybody, but we feel a high level of comfort with them,” he said.
SL Green, New York City’s largest commercial property landlord, is partnered with Hard Rock Entertainment and high-profile New York developer Jeff Gural in seeking the Aqueduct contract. Gural owns Tioga and Vernon Downs, two upstate New York harness tracks with racinos.
“If Governor [David] Paterson is seeking re-election, he needs to be cutting a ribbon at Aqueduct next spring, not a year from now,” Gural said Tuesday at the International Simulcasting Conference in Saratoga Springs, New York. “We’ve said all along we could be open in eight months. We’re the only one that can do that because we were part of the first bidding process.”
By statue, the selection rests with Gov. Paterson, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate President Malcolm Smith (D-Queens). However, Democratic Conference leader John Sampson of Queens is considered the Senate’s true power broker. He has been out of the country in Asia, meaning an announcement about Aqueduct may not happen this week.
“I think they’ll decide next week,” Gural said.
Analysts have generally considered SL Green and Wynn Resorts Limited of Las Vegas as front-runners for the contract.
The New York Post reported Monday that Paterson might be favoring Aqueduct Entertainment Group. Other firms seeking the contract are Penn National Gaming and The Peebles Corp., partnered with MGM Mirage.
