Editorial

Casino Gambling A Boon To NYC

One of the many wonderful songs in the Frank Loesser musical "Guys and Dolls," revived on Broadway a few years ago, was titled "The Oldest Established Permanent Floating Crap Game In New York." The game of the title "floated" from one end of the city to the other because such gambling games were then and are now illegal within the five boroughs. If police had come upon the game, the players would have been arrested.

Governor George Pataki has proposed establishing six casinos throughout New York state as a means of amassing some much-needed revenue in the wake of the September 11 tragedy. The state economy was in decline even before the terrorist assault on the World Trade Center, Pataki maintains, and the casinos, to be built in the Catskills and the area around Buffalo at the western end of the state, would attract tourists and generate jobs. But under legislation proposed by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, the oldest established permanent floating, etc., would continue to float because not one of the six casinos proposed would be erected within the boundaries of New York City.

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani blames this omission on Silver. Assembly Majority Leader Paul Tokasz said the sites for the proposed casinos had been determined by Native American tribes, whose members would run the establishments, and regional lawmakers. "If (Giuliani) had come up to us with a Native American proposal, we would have considered it," Tokasz, who represents Cheektowaga, near Buffalo, stated. Pataki said he was "willing to listen" to proposals to bring casino gambling to New York City.

Seeking to pin responsibility for leaving the state's largest city out of the loop on this one may be an exercise in futility. As it stands, however, the decision is an overwhelming example of both the kind of inanity that passes for thinking at some levels and the vindictiveness that sometimes infests decisions that should be made with the good and benefit of all the inhabitants of New York state as a primary consideration.

Flights into the city's airports are still arriving with half-empty aircraft. Hotel vacancy rates are soaring. Restaurant reservations are dropping. Some Broadway shows are filling seats only because companies and civic groups are buying blocks of tickets. The service industries that depend on all these activities--chambermaids, wait staff, ushers, maintenance people--are laying off workers by the hundreds. Any way to bring more tourists into New York City should be thoughtfully considered. Casino-goers often remain at the blackjack tables or the slot machines for the entire length of their stay because there is little else to do in the oceanfront or hinterland communities where their pleasure palaces are located. If they decide to take a break from the roulette wheel or the craps table in New York City, a whole world of exciting possibilities awaits just outside the casino door. Many of the casinos in neighboring states have as their theme a pseudo New York City. Why not offer visitors to these facilities the real thing?

It is irresponsible of elected officials to keep casino gambling out of New York City. The city needs the infusion of tourist dollars casino gambling within its limits would provide. Its citizens need the jobs that would result. And contrary to opinions held in some quarters, casino gambling in New York City would not cut off the rest of the state from the benefits to be gained. If anything, casino gambling in New York City would make upstate New York more attractive to visitors who would be led to see what lies beyond the city limits.

For too long the oldest established permanent crap game has floated all over New York City. Now, especially, is the time to find it a home.