Former Mohegan partner in talks for N.Y. casino

Monday, July 31, 2000 | 10:55 a.m.

ALBANY, N.Y. -- A Connecticut gaming company has teamed up with a Wisconsin Indian tribe to study the possibility of a casino in New York state.

Officials from Trading Cove Associates confirmed they have been talking with the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans Tribal Council about a gaming center in the Catskills. The tribe joins other Indian groups interested in developing the former resort area that analysts say would tantalize New York City-area gamblers.

Len Wolman, a managing partner in Trading Cove, said Thursday the development company is constantly looking for new business opportunities, including gaming.

Earlier this month, the Connecticut Mohegans met with Catskill Development Corp., which hopes to attract the attention of a New York tribe interested in opening a casino at the old Monticello Raceway, about 75 miles north of New York City.

Several tribes, including the Oneida, Cayuga and St. Regis Mohawk are said to be in negotiations to open gaming centers in New York. Park Place Entertainment Corp. of Las Vegas, the world's largest gaming company, has an agreement with the St. Regis Mohawks to open a casino in the Catskills. The Oneidas already operated Turning Stone in Verona.

Trading Cove helped Connecticut's Mohegans build their successful Mohegan Sun casino in 1996 and until January was a partner in the casino operation, which had gross revenues of almost $700 million last year.