Would NYC slots hurt Catskill casinos?
Times Herald-Record New York Could Big Apple slots compete with the rise of casinos in the Catskills? You bet, one proponent of Catskills gambling said yesterday. Last week, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said his administration is considering expanding legalized gambling to counter the city’s sizable budget woes. “We need money,” Bloomberg told the New York Daily News. Thompson Supervisor Tony Cellini, a longtime backer of Sullivan County casinos, said New Yorkers may stay away if they can gamble in the city. “I think it would be detrimental to our area,” Cellini, who keeps a working slot machine in his office, said yesterday. Champions of casino gambling in the Catskills have said for years that New York City would fuel Indian gambling in Sullivan. With slot options nearer to Manhattan, city dwellers may be less likely to go to Sullivan County, where three casinos are proposed, Cellini said. Sullivan County Legislature Chairwoman Leni Binder, R-Woodridge, yesterday agreed that
