Editorial: A bad deal for an off-reservation casino in the Catskills

"Gov. David Paterson of New York has only a few weeks left in office. But that hasn’t stopped him from making a bad deal with an out-of-state Indian tribe to build a casino in the Catskills.

Mr. Paterson clearly hasn’t learned enough from his disappointing tenure. The deal was mostly done in secret. Never mind that less than a month ago, the state’s inspector general issued a scathing report on the haphazard way a company was chosen to create another gambling facility at the Aqueduct racetrack in Queens.

The agreement is supposed to get the Stockbridge-Munsee, a Wisconsin-based tribe, to drop its claims against New York State lands. In return, New York would support the tribe’s application to convert 330 acres to tribal territory to build the 584,000-square-foot casino. Under the deal, the tribe would pay the state and local community far less than nontribal casinos and certainly not enough to cover the social damage gambling leaves in its wake.

The location, 90 miles from New York City, means the new casino would compete for patrons with gambling operations in Monticello and Yonkers and the yet-to-be remodeled Aqueduct “racino.” Other New York-based tribes that have been looking for similar land swaps are furious. "

Get the Story:
Editorial: Mr. Paterson and the (Latest) Casino (The New York Times 11/20)

Related Stories:
Editorial: No dice for the off-reservation casino in the Catkskills (11/19)
Stockbridge Munsee casino faces major opposition in New York (11/18)
NRDC Blog: Off-reservation casino not so great for the Catskills (11/18)
Stockbridge Munsee Band reaches deal for casino in New York (11/17)