Hearing on casino plan draws crowd in Albany
Mar 1 , 2005

By YANCEY ROY
O-D Albany Bureau

ALBANY — Hundreds of lobbyists, gambling opponents, state officials and American Indian leaders crammed a hearing Monday on whether to dramatically expand casinos in the Catskill Mountains while settling long-running Indian land claims.

A line of well-heeled lobbyists and Catskills residents snaked outside the meeting room like rush-hour traffic. Upward of 150 people had asked to be heard, said Sen. John Bonacic, R-Mt. Hope, Orange County, who headed the panel holding the hearing. Instead he limited the proceedings to 16 witnesses.

At issue is a plan by Gov. George Pataki that includes: Increasing the number of authorized Catskill casinos from three to five; settling land-claim lawsuits with five tribes, including the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin; and revenue-sharing with state and county governments in which Madison and Oneida counties would get $5 million apiece.

An official from Caesar’s, the casino company working with the Akwesasne Mohawk tribe on a casino, told Bonacic he estimates the state’s share from that complex could be $90 million.

The Sullivan County Legislature — home of all the proposed casino sites — recently voted to back the deal. Besides the New York Legislature, Congress must also approve the plan, which may be tougher to achieve.

At the hearing, unions joined with tribes to support Pataki’s bill. Denis Hughes, head of the state AFL-CIO, said it represented a “monumental opportunity to breathe life into the hospitality and tourism industries.”

In contrast, members of a group called “Casino Free Sullivan” said casino boosters were downplaying the likely increases in traffic problems, smog and crime, not to mention a heavier burden on local schools.

“This bill,” said local farmer Dick Riseling, thrusting the proposal in the air, “is a Trojan Horse that will plunder Sullivan County.”