I live in the Lincoln Park section of Yonkers, directly across from Empire City Casino. My husband and I purchased our home knowing the casino has been part of this community’s identity for 125 years, just as my neighbors did. Having lived in four of New York State’s five largest cities, I chose to make Yonkers my family’s permanent home, and I love it here. But I’m deeply concerned about our future.
With my daughter soon entering the public school system, I’m increasingly concerned about the Yonkers education budget, which faces an annual deficit of more than $60 million. Our aging school buildings require billions to repair or rebuild. I also have concerns about the fiscal stability of the city as a whole. Property taxes have recently risen three times above the state’s tax cap and with no other revenue streams available, it will be residents who will be left to carry the burden of filling budget gaps.
I’ve been surprised to read concerns from some area residents regarding the potential full casino license for Empire City. They’re the same concerns expressed over 20 years ago when the casino was first being built. They didn’t come to fruition then, and they won’t now. New development projects bring changes, mostly for the better, but sometimes those changes require mitigation measures to reduce the impact on a community. I trust Mayor Spano and Empire City’s leadership to work with the community on those measures.
But let’s be clear: this site has always been an entertainment destination. Yonkers Raceway once drew 25,000 people nightly, all arriving and leaving at the same time. I’ve seen the photos with police officers directing traffic. With the heyday of racing long past, today’s casino brings the same number of guests but spread over 20 hours. There’s no dispute that the casino development brought a significant improvement to traffic.
Empire City is already Yonkers’ largest taxpayer and largest private employer. With a commercial casino license, the City’s tax revenue stream is projected to triple in the first year alone. No other company is prepared to invest billions in our city. Concerns about traffic or security from a concert venue pale in comparison to what’s truly at stake: what happens if Yonkers doesn’t get this license.
Our city of 200,000 is competing with New York City’s 9 million residents and its 60 million global tourism base. If the state awards licenses based only on budget needs or the highest bidder, Yonkers will be left behind. Without a commercial license, a video lottery terminal destination won’t survive against three full gaming casinos, and the consequences for Yonkers will be devastating: teacher layoffs, police and fire cuts, school closures, and even higher property taxes.
That’s why I spoke at the Planning Board hearing and will submit testimony to the Community Advisory Council in support of Empire City. I urge my neighbors to do the same. It’s up to us to ensure the state appointees who are scoring these applications don’t pass us by. Do they understand the gaming market and our proximity to the neighboring states currently benefiting from the spending of New Yorkers and our tourists? Will they do what was done with the upstate casinos and award licenses to the highest bidders because the state has a tremendous budget deficit of its own to contend with?
My friends and neighbors, what I know for certain is that traffic and security are not the primary concern when it comes to Empire City’s potential license. The thing that should keep us all up at night is that without this commercial casino license, Empire City will likely close within five years, and it will financially gut the city we call home. The families of the 750 employees will not be the only ones impacted. It will hurt us all.
Join me in getting loud and fighting for the city we call home, the children we’re raising in it, and all the residents who reside in it. It will take all of us to bring this license home to Yonkers, where it belongs. Yonkers can’t afford to lose this bet.
Kate Schlientz Hughes is a Yonkers resident, mother, and business owner.
