From here, it seems likely for the State of New York to warrant the development of several full scale casinos in the upcoming year, in both upstate New York and the New York City area. Until then, electronic slot machine parlors are under way in Long Island, expected to generate immense revenue in the meantime.
On the one hand, casinos could be a great benefit to the respective counties of New York where they are anticipated to be built. The preemptive slot parlors in Long Island alone are expected to bring in roughly $150 million dollars in net revenue, which, if the conjecture holds true, would in turn bring something near to $20 million dollars to Suffolk County each year. These figures modest in comparison to what full scale casinos could bring to the table, the mind reels at the mere notion.
On the other hand, gambling is conducive to depraved behavior, the pilfering away of money by the public, and an influx of tourism far removed from cultural appreciation. Widely overlooked by pundits on the matter, the allowance of non-tribal casinos could severely damage a basket of Native American tribes in the state of New York, who heavily rely on revenue from casinos in transitioning out of a lifestyle that was stripped away from them at the hand of our nation’s government entities. Native Americans net far more profit from casinos than they do from tourism associated with cultural appreciation, selling goods, or selling tribal land. Though fraught with internal political problems, tribal casinos allow Native Americans to provide services for their widely struggling communities, including the building of schools, bolstering of infrastructure, and reestablishment of lost traditions.
The topic of legal, non-tribal casinos in New York is inherently controversial, but likely to happen. Developers are hoping to begin construction in 2017, and Governor Andrew M. Cuomo is optimistic about the prospect of state casinos broadening New York’s bottom line.