New York State has struck a deal with an Indian tribe to open a casino in the Catskills. The Catskills Mountains is a vacation destination for the elite crowd of New York. The Catskills is dotted with resorts and camps. This area is also a heritage location with the Catskills Park and Forest Preserve. It is in this land that New York State has agreed to give out a piece of land to a Wisconsin Native American tribe.
The deal is an exchange between the tribe and the State. The Stockbridge-Munsee Tribe’s 23,000 acres of land in New York is to be exchanged for the 330 acres of land in the Catskills. The Tribe plans to construct a 584,000 sq ft casino in the land. The land already being a vacation spot is ideal for a casino of this magnitude as gaming is one of America’s favorite pass times. The casino will be in Sullivan County and is expected to increase the revenues of the county by manyfold. The officials of Sullivan County and New York State are thrilled by the concept of the casino in the Catskills.
The deal was kept under the carpet until recently. The surfacing of the news about such a deal has brought out a lot of criticism from environmental activists, other Indian tribes, and casino owners.
Environmental activists’ main concern is about the air and water pollution that would be caused in the area due to such a move. They state that the Catskills has one of the most important freshwater ecosystems in the world and the building of a casino definitely means several steps toward its destruction. The other Indian tribes’ main concern is about how the deal was struck. They are also curious about the reasons behind choosing the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribe over others who have applied many times to start such a casino without any good results. Some of these tribes like the Oneida tribe plans to file a petition against the deal and holds the proceedings till matters are cleared out. Other casino owners criticized the deal as it would be competing with casinos in Monticello and Yonkers. Others are also criticizing that is a speedy move from Governor Patterson to seal his legacy in New York before he leaves office in December 2010.
The news about this deal surfaced just when the Governor of New York has been facing fierce criticism about a casino deal in Queens with Aqueduct. But the New York State administrative wing is all for the deal. They even claim that the State legislature has approved schemes to allow the opening of three casinos in the Catskills as early as year 2001. They also state that this fact was something that was publicized from day one and there has been no efforts whatsoever from the Patterson administration to keep the deal between the State and the tribe a secret. The Stockbridge-Munsee Tribe stated that they had no intention to dupe anybody and they wish to work in complete cooperation with other tribes.
The State and the tribe hope to sign the deal by the last week of November 2010. But, there are chances that it may be delayed indefinitely if the Oneida file their petition to stay the deal in court.