NEW YORK | Resorts World Casino Expansion

[NYguy]

Aqueduct racing track will close later this year, as the rebuilt Belmont will have year 'round racing. At that point, what will happen with the property remains to be seen. While Resorts World has proposed a huge residential development, the process will probably go to an RFP.



https://nypost.com/2026/01/22/lifestyle/inside-the-new-super-projects-coming-to-nyc/

Let’s mega deal: Developers are placing their bets on NYC with fun, large-scale super projects


By Lois Weiss
Jan. 22, 2026

Over the next few years, the Big Apple will boom with playful mega-developments.

Fresh markets, three new casinos — complete with hotels and entertainment venues — a revamped horse racing facility and a new soccer stadium will make the Big Apple feel even bigger.

Pair that with tons of affordable housing, new office towers and acres of green spaces and you’ve got lots to look forward to.

.....racing fans will rejoice as Belmont Park is getting a snazzy $455 million upgrade that will open on Sept. 18.

The new 300,000-square-foot, five-story grandstand was designed by Populous and will include premium Champion Suites, as well as updated technology and hospitality areas for fans. All four of Belmont’s racetracks are being entirely rebuilt while the horses will enjoy new stables.

Although the running of the Belmont Stakes will be bumped again to Saratoga Race Course for 2026, the third leg of the Triple Crown will return to the new Belmont in 2027. Thanks to a push by Marc Holliday of SL Green, who also heads the New York Racing Association, the Breeders’ Cup World Championships will also be held at Belmont Oct. 29 to 30, 2027, for the first time since 2005.

When Belmont opens, Queens’ other racetrack, Aqueduct, will close and its 210 acres will be redeveloped, likely with housing and amenities. The Resorts World Casino attached to the track finally got the nod from New York State to become a full-fledged casino with table games. They’ll start rolling dice around the end of March.

Resorts World will add to its current pool of 5,500 slot and electronic games, spending $5.5 billion to build a new 500,000-square-foot gaming floor with 6,000 slot machines and 800 live table games. In addition to the existing 400-room Hyatt Regency, Resorts will develop another 2,000 hotel rooms, plus a 7,000-seat entertainment venue, tons of new parking and 12 acres of improved open space.

Owned by Genting Group, Resorts World’s also promised a $2 billion community benefits package with a commitment to build up to 50,000 units of workforce housing across the five boroughs.

A state-of-the-art Resorts World Innovation Campus with the Jet Center — a sports and media complex led by Queens native and NBA legend Kenny “the Jet” Smith — a community health and wellness center and a Queens STEAM Institute are also planned.

[NYguy]

https://igamingbusiness.com/casino-games/new-york-three-downstate-casinos-next-steps/


4th February 2026
By Jess Marquez

Resorts World is planning to launch the first phase of its expansion by July of this year, and the other two have projected single-phase openings in 2030.

The three will face varying tax rates, with each having pitched their own during the bid process. Resorts World will pay the highest tax — 56% on slots and 30% on tables — with Bally’s in second at 30% and 10% and Metropolitan Park third at 25% and 10%.

While the winners are beginning their development work, a range of other storylines are beginning to emerge as the broader region reacts to the impending competition. Some are within the state, like digital expansion, prediction markets and the outlying Seneca Nation compact renewal, and some are external, such as New Jersey’s ever-present expansion efforts.

Resorts World has had to do a fair bit of money manoeuvering to prepare for its expansion. The casino plans to outfit existing, unused space at its VLT facility in order to launch by the summertime. In doing so, its parent Genting has begun the process of selling its Resorts World Catskills property and consolidating its Malaysian subsidiary, both of which are ongoing.

Genting last month netted a $755 million loan to help finance the project’s immediate needs. Resorts World representatives did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

[NYguy]

https://www.gambling.com/news/casino-new...no-opens-graton-s-1bn-expansion-rolls-on

New York City's First Full Casino Set To Open As Resorts World Prepares For Historic Launch


By Matthew Crist
Mar 24, 2026

New York City is on the verge of a landmark moment in its gaming history.

Resorts World New York City is preparing to open the Big Apple's first full commercial casino.

The Genting-operated property at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens received its commercial gaming license from the New York State Gaming Commission in December.

The expanded facility - featuring hundreds of live table games - has been targeted for launch this month.

The scale of the project is hard to overstate. Resorts World's $7.5billion proposal for the 72-acre Aqueduct site envisions one of the largest integrated resorts in the US.

Plans include a 500,000-square-foot gaming floor, up to 2,000 hotel rooms, and a 7,000-seat entertainment venue.

The immediate opening covers only the first phase. The full project is not expected to reach completion until 2031.

Even so, players will access hundreds of live table games in New York City for the first time - a milestone more than 15 years in the making, according to Genting Americas East President Robert DeSalvio.

The financial implications for New York State are significant. Resorts World has committed $2.5bn to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority over the next four years.

The wider project is projected to generate over $5bn in revenue for the state within four years. More than 5,000 permanent jobs will be created in Queens.

To prepare for opening, the operator has already hired and trained up to 2,000 employees for the first phase alone.

Resorts World is not the only new casino coming to New York City. The Gaming Commission also awarded licenses to Hard Rock Metropolitan Park in Queens and the Bally's project in the Bronx.

[NYguy]

https://subscriber.politicopro.com/artic...y-casino-misses-planned-opening-00860466

New York City casino misses planned opening
Resorts World is still planning to open its expanded gaming facility in Queens by June 1.


BY: RY RIVARD
04/06/2026

One of the new casinos approved for New York City is already behind schedule.

Resorts World — which won approval last year to expand its Aqueduct gambling facility in Queens — repeatedly said it would aim to have table games ready to go by the end of March.

That has not happened.

The company now says that “in a matter of days” it will “announce its massive opening day event.” Instead of the March plan — which Resorts World touted and state officials repeated in a report recommending the project win a license — the company said it will meet a “six month” deadline that it also talked about during the yearslong application process.

[NYguy]

https://nypost.com/2026/04/20/us-news/ti...no-with-live-table-games-opens-april-28/

First NYC casino to offer live table games sets opening day




The expansion adds 1,250 new jobs, including 950 table-game dealers, and offers 200 live table games.


By Carl Campanile
April 20, 2026

A big week for gamblers is in the cards.

New York City’s first-ever full-fledged casino offering live table games will open next Tuesday — at Resorts World next to the Aqueduct racetrack in Queens.

Queens-bred rapper Nas will attend the ribbon-cutting and ceremonial throw of the first dice after Genting-owned Resorts World was one of three bidders awarded a state license last December to offer live table games.

Resorts World, a Malaysian-headquartered company, has been licensed to operate slot games at its facility for more than a decade — but will now be able to offer 200 live table games such as blackjack, craps, baccarat and roulette on its renovated third floor.

“New York City has never seen anything like what we’re planning for April 28,” said Robert DeSalvio, president of Genting Americas East.

“Once final testing is complete, live table games will be open and operating right here in Queens for the first time in the history of New York City. We are ready to welcome New Yorkers to this exciting new experience.”

The expansion adds 1,250 new jobs, including 950 new table-game dealers, most of whom completed training over the past week.

In total, Resorts World now employs 2,200 people and is slated to grow to more than 2,700 workers by summer.

“We are proud to be creating more than a thousand new jobs while taking a major step forward for this property. This is a transformational moment for Resorts World New York City, and we cannot wait to share it with our fellow New Yorkers,” De Salvio said.

Genting Chairman KT Lim will also join Nas, along with numerous elected officials and community leaders at the grand opening.

When the casino project is fully completed, Resorts World will have:

— 6,000 slot machines and 800 live table games, for a total 10,800 gaming positions

— A total of 2,000 hotel rooms, building on the 400 existing units at its Hyatt Regency

— A new 7,000-seat multipurpose concert hall

More than 12 acres of new public green space, a full Day Spa and an Innovation Campus anchored by the sports Jet Center named after Queens hoops legend Kenny “The Jet” Smith.

Resorts World, which has operated as a slots parlor since 2011, has delivered $5 billion in tax revenues to the state education system.

[NYguy]

https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/loc...f3e3.html#tracking-source=home-top-story

Whether Atlantic City is ready or not, NY casino expansion begins Tuesday at Resorts World in Queens





Wayne Parry
4/27/2026

The beginning of a wave of casino expansion in New York City that has the potential to do serious harm to Atlantic City's gambling industry arrives Tuesday when Resorts World New York City adds live table games to its slot operations at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens.

It is the first step in transforming Resorts World into a $7.5 billion, full-blown casino resort, a project its owners, Malaysia-based Genting Group, call "the largest integrated resort in the United States," and which Atlantic City views as part of a larger threat to its own casino industry.

"New York City has never seen anything like what we're planning for April 28," said Robert DeSalvio, president of Genting Americas East. "Once the Gaming Commission’s final testing is complete, live table games will be open and operating right here in Queens for the first time in the history of New York City. We are ready to welcome New Yorkers to this exciting new experience.

Tuesday's event will mark the arrival of a day Atlantic City has known was coming for years, and has been planning for with a mixture of worry and resolve to improve itself to better compete with three new casinos for a core segment of its customer base.

"The million-billion dollar question is what this will mean for Atlantic City’s casino operators," said Jane Bokunewicz, director of the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism, which studies the Atlantic City gambling market.

"Gaming expansion to New York has been a long time in coming and no one can say that it was not expected," she said. "Atlantic City’s operators have had time to hone their gaming products, solidify customer relationships, and lean into what makes gaming in Atlantic City distinctive.

"What happens next will come down to consumers and whether the initial novelty, and potentially convenience, of live table games offerings in downstate New York woos them away from Atlantic City’s gaming floor," Bokunewicz said. "In the short term, we can likely expect competition to increase along with investments in advertising and player incentives as properties work to capture or retain market share. In the long term it is harder to say what will happen."

Earlier this month at the East Coast Gaming Congress, held at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City, casino executives assessed the potential damage to Atlantic City from New York City casinos, and a threatened push to revive an effort to get voters to authorize casinos in parts of New Jersey other than Atlantic City.

If casinos elsewhere in the state are approved, the combined effect with three New York City casinos on Atlantic City would be "a tsunami on top of an earthquake," said George Goldhoff, president of the Casino Association of New Jersey and of Atlantic City's Hard Rock.

He predicted as many as six of the city's nine casinos could close, and annual gambling revenue could fall by $600 million to $700 million.

Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. acknowledges the threat from the three new casinos in New York City and has pledged that the city will up its game to better compete with the new offerings that will be much closer to some of Atlantic City's key customers in New York and North Jersey.

"We're challenged," he said earlier this month at the East Coast Gaming Congress. "I know those threats are real. New York is the Big Apple, but we are the Boardwalk. We can compete against anyone."

The addition of live table games is just the start of a massive expansion of Resorts World. The project eventually will include 2,000 hotel rooms; a 7,000-seat arena; 30 food and beverage outlets, and 12 acres of community green space.

Even without table games, Resorts World says it is the nation's highest-grossing slots facility, with over $1 billion in annual gross gambling revenue.
Its full-blown casino will have 6,000 slot machines and 800 table games.

It expects to more than double its gambling revenue by next year to $2.2 billion.

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[Busy Bee]

What a wasted opportunity.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

What a wasted opportunity.

Typical New York fashion. Never invite the public in on matters of important development. They don’t get it. Those in charge should know better, but it’s actually how they wanted this to go. But it is what it is.

[NYguy]

https://nypost.com/2026/04/28/us-news/nyc-first-full-fledged-casino-resorts-world-opens-its-doors/

NYC’s first full-fledged casino Resorts World opens its doors: ‘We’re all in!’





By Kevin Sheehan and Emily Crane
April 28, 2026

With a ceremonial first roll of the dice, the Big Apple’s first ever full-fledged casino officially threw open its doors Tuesday.

Resorts World New York City, which has already been licensed to operate slot games at its Queens compound for more than a decade, will now offer up over 240 table games as part of its recent multi-billion dollar expansion.

”Gambling is terrible, it destroys people. I’m here to get destroyed,” Kenny Callis, 45, a construction worker from Brooklyn, quipped to The Post as he eagerly arrived for the launch of the live table games.

“I’m going in today, I’m going to play blackjack and roulette,” he said.

The entire third floor of the facility, which is located next to Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, now features blackjack, craps, baccarat and roulette — as well as the thousands of already existing slot machines.

Queens-bred rapper Nas and a “who’s who” of local elected officials were on hand for the grand opening ceremony.

“We are all in,” KT Lim, chairman of the Genting-owned Resorts World, declared as he rolled the dice.

Owners of Resorts World, a Malaysian-headquartered company, said the expansion was creating well over 1,200 new jobs for the city, including 950 new table-game dealers.

“We are changing the landscape of New York City with a building that will never close. This is literally going to be the world’s largest casino,” said Kevin Jones, the casino’s chief strategy officer.

“This is historic. This is going to be a tectonic shift.”

Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato was among those to hail the expansion, declaring Queens was now the borough to be.

“I like to gamble. A great steakhouse with parking, here? I like to have a drink. Live music? A great cold drink right here? This is a game changer, locally,” she said. “We are the borough to be at now! We are the destination.”

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[Crawford]

I'm not a gambler, but these three casinos will deliver billions for transit, and tens of thousands of jobs. They're a huge win for NYC.

[NYguy]

https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-...thay-news-photo/2273605325?adppopup=true

[NYguy]

https://www.nydailynews.com/2026/04/29/first-full-service-casino-nyc-opens-jamaica-queens/




By Leonard Greene
April 29, 2026

After nearly a decade of stops and starts, Queens has finally rolled the dice on a multibillion-dollar casino expansion that brings live table games to New York City for the first time.

Resorts World New York City in South Ozone Park rolled out the red carpet for roulette, craps, baccarat and blackjack, opening its casino doors to more than 1,200 new jobs — including 950 table dealers — and up to $7 billion in gaming tax revenue over the next 10 years.

For now, Resorts has the odds stacked in its favor being the first of three planned full-service casinos to open in the city.

The casino will pay a hefty share of the proceeds to New York, with a 63% state tax on slots revenue and 30% on table game income. Once competition arrives the tax rate will drop to the levels its competitors pay once they’re up and running.

Since 2011, Resorts has been operated as a gambling operation running only electronic games. But after years of competing for a full gambling license, the operation has all the hallmarks of a Las Vegas-style casino.

The new third-floor hall is longer than a football field, filled with shiny new blackjack, craps, baccarat and roulette tables.

It has been more than a decade since voters approved an expansion of gambling in the state.

“We believe that what is good for this community is good for this property and is good for this city,” said Michelle Stoddart, Resorts’ senior vice president of community development.

The other two casinos are expected to open around 2030.

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[NYguy]

https://queenseagle.com/all/2026/5/5/sta...pment-of-massive-aqueduct-racetrack-site

State to begin redevelopment of massive Aqueduct Racetrack site


May 05, 2026
By Jacob Kaye

The state this month will begin planning its redevelopment of Queens’ Aqueduct Racetrack, which is set to be one of the largest empty plots of state-owned land when the horse racing complex closes its tracks for good in June.

Planning for the massive redevelopment of the approximately 100-acre site in South Ozone Park will begin next week with a series of public workshops, the governor’s office told the Eagle exclusively.

The workshops, which will take place in-person on Tuesday, May 12, and online on Thursday, May 14, will mark the beginning of a year-long planning process for the future of the site, a coveted plot of land that sits next to the city’s first full-fledged casino, Resorts World New York City.

The racetrack’s long-planned closure has invited a series of proposals for the site, including a plan to build housing in the neighborhood from Adrienne Adams, the former speaker of the City Council whom Governor Kathy Hochul tapped to serve as her running mate earlier this year.

It’s likely that whatever plan takes shape will include housing, according to the governor, who passed an executive order in 2023 directing agencies to find underutilized state-owned sites that could be used for new homes.

The first workshop on May 12 will be held from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at John Adams High School on Rockaway Boulevard. The second workshop, which will be held on May 14 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., will be virtual.

The sessions will include an opening presentation about the site and an interactive open house where residents can use mapping tools to give their input about what they’d like to see built at Aqueduct, including housing, open space, retail, schools, community facilities, or arts and culture facilities, according to ESD.

More workshops will be held in the coming year. The state says it plans to unveil a master plan for the site in early 2027.

“The Aqueduct Racetrack site represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine 100 acres of state-owned land in Queens,” said Empire State Development President, CEO and Commissioner Hope Knight, who previously led an economic development organization in Southeast Queens. “ESD is committed to working with the community through a robust and inclusive engagement process to develop a vision for this site that reflects their input and guides future development.”

The site was also eyed by Resorts World, which told the Gaming Commission when it was vying for one of the state’s three downstate casino licenses that Aqueduct could be used to build employee housing. Resorts World went on to win one of the licenses and opened the first phase of its new casino in April.

Even before Aqueduct’s closure was solidified, the site sparked the imaginations of state leaders.

Former Governor Eliot Spitzer considered selling the site off in 2007 but didn’t after local officials pushed back on the plan – the New York Racing Association, which leases the land, ended up agreeing to allow the state to auction off around 7 acres of vacant land near the track to raise money for the struggling venue.

Several years later, former Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed building the country’s largest convention center at Aqueduct. But he later scrapped the plan in favor of a deal to bring Resorts World’s electronic casino to the area.

[NYguy]

https://nysfocus.com/2026/06/01/nyc-casino-resorts-world-horseracing-support-tax

New York’s Brand-New Casino Is in a $500M+ Fight With the State
Resorts World is floating legislation to avert more than $500 million in payments to the horseracing industry.


Nick Garber
June 1, 2026

New York City’s first full-scale casino, the owner of Resorts World is already locked in a dispute with the state about how much money the company owes.

Hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake in the disagreement, which centers on the payments that casinos are required to make to support the state’s horseracing industry. The Queens-based casino argues that those “racing support” payments are included in the taxes it pays, but the state’s Gaming Commission believes that the payments, worth at least $150 million annually, must be paid on top of its taxes, according to four sources familiar with the discussions, who were granted anonymity to discuss the non-public proposal.

Those payments will ultimately be split between all three casinos in the area, but could cost Resorts World well over $500 million in the next four years, since the city’s other new casinos — Steve Cohen’s Metropolitan Park in Queens and Bally’s in the Bronx — are not scheduled to open until mid-2030. Current law requires Resorts World to shoulder all the payments alone until the other casinos open.

In recent days, Resorts World has pitched state lawmakers on legislation that could resolve the dispute in its favor. The bill would have the Gaming Commission make the payments “directly from the commercial gaming revenue fund” — the pot of money where Resorts World’s taxes go. The fund is earmarked mainly for education and public transit.

Notably, Resorts World would resume making its own payments once another casino opens in New York City, according to bill text reviewed by New York Focus.

Since opening the casino in April, Resorts World has already made weekly payments directly to the New York Racing Association — a nonprofit that runs the state’s three largest racetracks — by subtracting that money from its tax rate, said Friedman.

When each casino proposed its own tax rate during last year’s competition for the licenses, Resorts World bid a 56 percent annual tax on its slot machines and said that figure should be “inclusive of racing support.” The Gaming Commission previously promised that no casino bidder would be forced to pay a different tax rate than the one it proposed, which Resorts World says supports its argument.

It’s not clear whether the Gaming Commission signed off on Resorts World’s payment plan when it accepted the bid. A Gaming Commission webpage lists Resorts World’s tax rate as 56 percent and says 100 percent of that money will flow to education aid and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority — making no mention of racing support. Neither of the other two winning casinos indicated publicly that their tax rate should include racing support.

Resorts World initially wanted the proposal passed as part of the budget, but it was not included. The company is circulating it again in the remaining days of the legislative session, according to two sources granted anonymity to discuss the private talks. Senate and Assembly leaders were sympathetic to the budget request, one source said, but the state Gaming Commission — controlled by Governor Kathy Hochul — was opposed. A commission spokesperson declined to comment.

[NYguy]

https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2026/06/05/resorts-world-cirrus-buy-project-for-workforce-housing/

Resorts World, Cirrus buy first project for workforce housing initiative
Partners pick up Downtown Jamaica parking garage for $46M





JUN 5, 2026
Holden Walter-Warner

Cirrus Real Estate Partners and Resorts World are putting their chips where their mouths are, acquiring a site for workforce housing.

Cirrus and the gaming company bought the site at 93-30 165th Street in Jamaica, Queens, for $46.1 million, Crain’s reported. The joint venture plans to redevelop the parking garage as a housing development with up to 700 homes.

The 246,000-square-foot corner lot is permitted for more than 600,000 square feet of buildable space. The site is in the swath of Jamaica that was rezoned last year, a process expected to result in the creation of approximately 12,000 homes.

“The acquisition of this property demonstrates our commitment to transforming well-located sites into high-quality workforce housing that creates lasting value for communities,” Cirrus managing partner Joseph McDonnell told the publication.

The deal is the first for the joint venture under an initiative launched last May. That’s when Cirrus formed the joint venture with Resorts World New York City to build up to 50,000 housing units across the five boroughs, a promise that sweetened the latter’s bid to expand its slot parlor in Queens into a full-blown casino.