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From left are state Sen. Serphin Maltese, Delaware North President William Bisset, State Racing and Wagering Board Chairman John Sabini, Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer and Community Board 10 Chairwoman Betty Braton. (photo by Lee Landor)
Those who bet on Delaware North Cos. of Buffalo to beat out competitors for the contract to operate a new racino at Aqueduct Racetrack can now collect their winnings.
Just five days after refusing to join Gov. David Paterson and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver in their selection of the corporation, Senate Republicans agreed last Thursday to support the decision.
The finalization came after Delaware North complied with a request from Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Center) to clarify the company’s plans for improvements and jobs near the track, located in South Ozone Park.
“This has been a very, very long, difficult road,” said Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer (D-Ozone Park), who has long fought on behalf of the community to save Aqueduct. “We’ve been waiting as a state for the income, we’ve been waiting as a city for the growth, but, most importantly, a community has been waiting.”
Unlike its competitors, SL Green Realty Corp. and Capital Play Limited — either of which community residents initially preferred for selection — Delaware North failed to include sufficient details in its economic development plan, according to Skelos.
Without delay or hesitation, Delaware North met with critics, which included Pheffer, state Sen. Serphin Maltese and Community Board 10 Chairwoman Betty Braton.
The company won approval from all parties after it laid out detailed plans, which were promising enough to finally end the state’s seven-year search for a company to bring 4,500 video slot machines to Aqueduct.
The video lottery terminal will provide the state about $10.3 billion — more than $300 million annually for the duration of the 30-year operating contract.
When asked why Maltese and others had so quickly gone from opposition to approval, the senator said it was a matter of commitment. While they had renderings and a general idea of Delaware North’s plan, they were missing specific details that they wanted in writing.
“We got what we consider guarantees that reassured the community ... the residents and (Pheffer) and myself,” Maltese said. He then thanked Skelos, who was not present for the announcement last Thursday, for taking the steps necessary to ensure that everyone was on the same page regarding Delaware North’s plan for Aqueduct.
The company’s project will include a 328,000-square-foot gaming and entertainment facility for the VLT, a 300- to 500-room hotel, a spa, a 60,000-foot conference center, a 3,000-seat event center and up to 30,000 square feet of retail space.
It is also expected to create more than 2,000 union jobs — about 1,000 in construction and 1,100 operational jobs — in the community.
The project “will revitalize the neighborhoods surrounding the racetrack and bring new energy to the community,” Maltese said.
“Community is an absolutely critical component to this project,” Delaware North President William Bissett said, adding that the company will establish a Queens Community Advisory Panel, which will include nine members of C.B. 10.
The panel will be a vehicle that will receive community input on the impact of future economic development activities related to the firm’s operations through the term of the contract.
Delaware North said its goal is to minimize adverse effects, such as noise and traffic, that often accompany development. Once finalized, the facility will likely see some 10,000 people a day, Bissett noted.
Additionally, the company will establish an Employment and Small Business Development Center in the area to work with the community and provide support to those seeking employment and local companies seeking to provide goods and services to the gaming facility.
Paterson and Silver were said to have initially selected Delaware North because it offered to pay a $370 million up-front licensing fee to the state. SL Green and Capital Play offered $250 million and $100 million, respectively.
Still, Delaware North was the least appealing to residents of the areas surrounding Aqueduct because it had been the least communicative about its plans, according to Braton. She had expressed the community’s concerns to Maltese and Pheffer, who have both fought on the behalf of the community to save Aqueduct, shortly before Paterson and Silver announced the selection.
But on Oct. 16, Braton stood with the two lawmakers and gave her approval to Delaware North, which she said had provided the more detailed information the residents wanted. Braton noted, however, that “there is still a considerable amount of skepticism out in the community.”
She praised C.B. 10’s ability to get past differences, find common ground, develop consensus and willingness to compromise, and said that is what helped finalize the selection process.
“We will work with Delaware North to ensure that this project moves forward in a timely manner and delivers much-needed economic development for our community and the state,” Braton said.
As Delaware North continues developing its master plan, it will coordinate with community leaders and officials, according to Bissett. It is also working in cooperation with the New York Racing Association, which owns Aqueduct and the state’s two other racetracks. The company expects to complete the project by 2013.
