TOWN OF THOMPSON, NY—In response to the news on Monday that a second prospective casino developer had decided not to pursue a casino license in Sullivan County because of difficulty securing financing due to competing proposals to the south in Orange County, Mitchell Grossinger Etess, CEO of the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, says his firm will remain in the fight for its casino project in Sullivan County.

The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, owner of the Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville, CT, is partnering with Westchester County developer Louis Cappelli of Concord Associates, to build the $500-million Mohegan Sun at the Concord casino resort on 116 acres of property at the former Concord Hotel in the town of Thompson in Sullivan County.

“We are proceeding on completing our application. We believe strongly in the Catskills,” Etess tells Globest.com's John Jordan in response to Foxwood and Muss Development's announcement on Monday that they would not file an application by the mandated June 30th deadline for a New York State casino license with the New York State Gaming Facility Location Board for their planned casino project at the former Grossingers hotel in Liberty.

“At the end of the day our theory is we really strongly are of the opinion that gaming belongs in Sullivan County and we are going to continue to make our case for that,” Etess says. “We think it is an overall economic benefit for New York, it was an upstate development bill, and we feel that what is overall best for New York is for the casinos to be in the Catskills and not in Orange County.”

Etess stressed that the Mohegan Sun-Concord partnership will complete the necessary financial information as required by the state Gaming Commission on its gaming license application.

However, he notes, “The reality is that if there is a casino in Orange County, there will not be a casino in Sullivan County that will be able to provide any sort of economic engine for that county that will help stimulate the economy, which really was the goal here. And so we can't really keep making that point and pull out of the process.

“A casino in Orange County will cannibalize Yonkers (existing Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway), which is a very high producer for the state," he adds. "It is already impeding the Albany sector and it is going to have a significant impact on Sullivan County."

He charges that secondary benefits from casino development in Sullivan, such as new hotel and home construction to support the casino, will be far greater there than in Orange County where there is far more existing hotel and housing development. “We are going to continue to make that case and you can't do that and pull out of the process."

Meanwhile, Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus says in response to the Foxwoods-Muss pullout, “Part of the state Gaming Commission's Request for Applications process is demonstrating local support, and Orange County's municipalities have met this test repeatedly. In addition to our working with local officials and meeting with gaming companies interested in locating here, neighboring counties such as Rockland and Dutchess have expressed to us their support for gaming in Orange County. Casinos in Orange County can produce the most revenue and create the most jobs—the very purpose of the gaming law. Our unified message has established Orange County as a major contender for casino development and I look forward to working together with interested parties as we continue through the application and approval process.”

Adds New York State Senator John Bonacic, who chairs the Senate's Committee on Racing, Wagering and Gaming, "It is a shame that Foxwoods has been forced to pull out of the bidding process to build a resort casino in Sullivan County, only because they could not receive adequate financing with the prospect of a casino development project in Orange County. My intent behind the casino legislation was to locate resort destination casinos in areas which are distressed with high unemployment and low median income." 

He continues, "The Catskill Region is in dire need of this economic development boost, and I am hopeful that despite the sudden interest in Orange County, the Catskill region will remain a model for, and the focus of, where resort casinos are intended to go."