{"id":389,"date":"2026-03-04T14:02:33","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T15:02:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/?p=389"},"modified":"2026-03-25T13:23:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T13:23:44","slug":"new-york-city-casino-hopefuls-spent-millions-lobbying-government-officials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/new-york-city-casino-hopefuls-spent-millions-lobbying-government-officials\/","title":{"rendered":"New York City Casino Hopefuls Spent Millions Lobbying Government Officials"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><strong>Lobbying firms in NYC made millions from casino hopefuls in 2025<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Four of the top 10 lobbying spenders were entities behind downstate New York casino bids<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Last year&#8217;s competitive bid for the three downstate New York casino licenses lined the pockets of dozens of lobbying firms.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_378552\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-378552\" data-style=\"width: 858px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-post-thumbnail-858xAUTO wp-image-378552 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"New York City casino lobbying spending\" width=\"858\" height=\"572\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/shutterstock_2497219839-858x572-1.jpg\"><figcaption>An aerial view of New York City looking east past Manhattan to Queens, where two casino resorts are being built. Casino hopefuls spent millions of dollars on lobbying in 2025. (Image: Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">On March 1, the New York City Office of the City Clerk&#8217;s Lobbying Bureau unveiled its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cityclerk.nyc.gov\/assets\/cityclerk\/downloads\/pdf\/2026%20Annual%20Report%20final.pdf\">Annual Report<\/a>. The 66-page disclosure details lobbying activity in the city for the prior calendar year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">In 2025, firms fighting for the casino concessions were among the highest-paid lobbyists. In fact, entities associated with casino bids accounted for four of the top 10 clients based on total compensation.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"callout\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Queens Future, LLC, the corporation associated with billionaire Steve Cohen&#8217;s redevelopment of his Citi Field Ballpark into Hard Rock Metropolitan Park, doled out $1.69 million to 11 lobbying firms. Queens Future was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/new-york-casino-bids-approved-ballys-hard-rock-resorts-world\/\">one of the three winning bids<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Genting New York, LLC, the group behind the overhaul of Queens&#8217; Resorts World New York City from a racino to a full-fledged casino, spent $1.14 million on three lobbyists. Resorts World was also another downstate casino winner.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Bally&#8217;s Corporation, the third and final casino pick, spent $830,661 on 11 lobbying firms for its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ballys-acquires-bronx-casino-land-for-156-6-million\/\">Bally&#8217;s Bronx casino<\/a> bid at the Bally&#8217;s Golf Links at Ferry Point Park.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>New York Casino Lobbying<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Queens Future, Genting, and Bally&#8217;s, respectively, ranked Nos. 2, 4, and 6 among the top 10 lobbying spenders in 2025. MADDD Equities, an affordable housing developer, was the top spender at more than $1.8 million.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">At No. 3 was TSG Coney Island Entertainment Holdco, LLC. TSG was the group behind a proposed $3 billion overhaul of the Coney Island Boardwalk. Backed by the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma and New York-based Saratoga Casino Holdings and Thor Equities, TSG allocated almost $1.42 million on lobbying last year.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The Coney, as the casino presentation was called, did not qualify for consideration by the New York Gaming Facility Location Board after the bid&#8217;s Community Advisory Board (CAC) voted down the project.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The Coney wasn&#8217;t alone in being rejected by its CAC. Caesars Palace Times Square, The Avenir at 11th Avenue &amp; 41st Street, and Freedom Plaza near the United Nations Headquarters met similar fates. However, those projects did not rank in the top 10 in lobbying spend. MGM Empire City, a bid that was withdrawn after applying, also did not place among the top 10 lobbying spenders.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">NYC&#8217;s other casino considerations that weren&#8217;t officially bid, including Wynn Resorts&#8217; Hudson Yards proposal and Las Vegas Sands&#8217; plan on Long Island, were also not costly for the companies in terms of lobbying commitments.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>2026 Casino Lobbying<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">With three downstate New York casinos on the way, heavy lobbying in neighboring New Jersey is expected in 2026, as Garden State lawmakers mull whether to allow a resort in North Jersey.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Queens Future, Genting, and Bally&#8217;s would presumably fight to prevent a casino at The Meadowlands because North Jersey will be a key feeder market for the resorts. Hard Rock, which is partnered with Cohen on Metropolitan Park, was previously interested in developing a casino at The Meadowlands. Hard Rock also runs a casino in Atlantic City.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/new-york-city-casino-hopefuls-spent-millions-lobbying\/\">New York City Casino Hopefuls Spent Millions Lobbying Government Officials<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\">Casino.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lobbying firms in NYC made millions from casino hopefuls in 2025 Four of the top 10 lobbying spenders were entities behind downstate New York casino bids Last year&#8217;s competitive bid for the three downstate New York casino licenses lined the pockets of dozens of lobbying firms. An aerial view of New York City looking east&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=389"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":392,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389\/revisions\/392"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}