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Catskills Casino Generates Heat

Posted on November 24th, 2010

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A deal between New York State Governor David Paterson and a Native American tribe based in Wisconsin was finally approved on Monday. The deal would allow for the tribe to construct a full-blown casino in Catskills. A casino in that location would make it the closest gambling facility to New York City, closer than Foxwoods or Atlantic City. Insiders in Albany are quick to claim that the deal will eventually be gunned down at the federal level because of standing regulations. However, recent developments behind the scenes may actually tip the scales in favor of making the casino in Catskills a reality.

According to the lawyer of the Stockbridge-Munsee tribe, Donald Miller, secret negotiations have been going on between the tribe and the U.S. Department of Interior for the last months. He added, “We have gone to great lengths to explain to Interior that this is a unique situation. It is an off-the-reservation gaming application, but it’s also a settlement of a land claim.” Miller also said that the deal to be approved by the governor should settle the land claim of the tribe against the state of New York. The claim has been going on for decades and a resolution to this will pave the way for a casino. The pact includes the transfer of the disputed land to the Stockbridge-Munsee tribe, which before this has been held in trust by the Department of Interior. Miller said, “We’ve been making substantial progress.”

The federal authorities, however, have been subject to pressure from casino owners of non-tribal casino to stop the issuing of gaming licenses to tribes that plan to build casinos that are out of their reservations. In 2008, a similar pact that was signed in 2004 by George Pataki, then governor of New York, was rejected by the officials of the Interior Department. However, Miller said the administration under President Obama has been better in considering off-reservation gaming. Evidence to this would be the permission of the Interior Department for the Cherokee Nation, based in North Carolina to build a gaming facility in Oklahoma.

Other parties have yet to comment, including the spokeswoman for the Interior Department Kendra Barkoff who said that as of the moment, there are still no statements from the group because they have yet to see the final agreement between the tribe and the state. Meanwhile, State Senator Chuck Schumer witnessed Monday’s ceremony, expressing his support for this deal that would eventually need the approval of Interior Secretary Kenneth Salazar, who was once Schumer’s colleague in the Senate. The Catskills casino being proposed is expected to give jobs to thousands of residents while generating millions of dollars for the state. The state will be guaranteed a share of the revenue, which will start at 18 percent and will balloon to 25 percent after one year. Moreover, the tribe would also need to pay state and local taxes, in addition to giving $15 million every year to the hosting county of the casino, Sullivan County. To be exact, the town of Thompson will be the site of the casino, which is 10 miles south of Monticello Raceway. It is only 90 miles away from New York City.

A casino in Catskills would also mark the Stockbridge-Munsee tribe’s return to the woodlands, an area their ancestors originated from. The Stockbridge-Munsee community was established in the latter portion of the 1700s, with two tribes uniting. The Mohicans were pushed out of the Hudson Valley and the Munsee tribe out of Sullivan County by white settlers. The state then brought their land as they moved, only to sell it for a profit. The tribe then was already in Wisconsin when it sued the federal government in 1951, because they were not protected. Thirty-five years later, they sued the state for damages amounting to hundreds of millions for selling their land without federal approval. The agreement between the governor and the tribe should resolve these claims.

With the seemingly good news, there are still skeptics. Assembly Racing and Wagering Committee Chairman Gary Pretlow (D-Westchester), said, “My personal feeling is that it is not going to happen. There are just too many obstacles.” A number of critics say that Patterson is rushing the deal so that he can have something to call his legacy as he leaves his office by the end of the year.