Senator concerned about Indian casino

Friday, Aug. 20, 1999 | 4:05 a.m.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Sen. Robert Torricelli, D-N.J, is trying to get the Department of the Interior to reconsider a move to allow an Indian casino to open 30 miles from the New Jersey border.

The Press of Atlantic City reported that Torricelli sent a five-page letter to Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt accusing the department and the state of New York of ignoring the legal process in allowing the St. Regis Mohawk Indians to put a $500 million casino and convention center in Monticello, N.Y. Torricelli has "grave concerns" that the casino would pose a threat to Atlantic City's casino industry.

Monticello is about 75 miles from New York City. The tribe already operates the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino in Hogansburg, N.Y., located near the Canadian border. But the tribe has been trying for four years to build a property much closer to the New York City market.

The tribe has proposed placing 30 acres at the Monticello Raceway into federal trust. That land is not on the Mohawk reservation, so it would have to be placed in federal trust before the tribe could use it for a casino.

Torricelli said the application has been approved by the Bureau of Indian Affairs because 45 days have passed since it was submitted.