Lawsuits threatened over new NY casinos, legislators act

Carolyn Thompson

Friday, June 22, 2001 | 11:11 a.m.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A battle over Gov. George Pataki's surprise announcement of an agreement with the Seneca Indian Nation to open casinos in Niagara Falls and Buffalo erupted Thursday with supporters moving to quickly make it a reality and opponents threatening lawsuits.

In Albany, the Republican-led state Senate, after a heated debate, put its stamp of approval on the GOP governor's plan by approving legislation to put slot machines in the casinos and make other changes in state law needed to implement the plan.

"This bill is a blank check," said Senate Minority Leader Martin Connor of New York City. "I don't think this bill will survive."

The New York City Democrat said he doubts the legislation, passed overwhelmingly despite what he considered little detail, could withstand a court challenge to its constitutionality.

"I am for supporting casinos in Niagara Falls, but I have great concerns over this," Connor said late Thursday night. "We're ratifying the treaty before it's written."

"I would like to not have casinos anywhere in the world," said Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno. "But, senator, we have casinos."

Bruno said the bill will empower Pataki to negotiate a strong casino agreement to benefit western New York and the state.

There was no immediate word Thursday on when the Democratic-controlled state Assembly might take up the legislation. The Assembly is out of session until Monday.

Pataki and Seneca Nation President Cyrus Schindler on Wednesday struck a deal to build two Las Vegas-style casinos by the end of next year. The deal also would allow the Senecas to open a third casino in the future on nearby reservation land.

The agreement, which also needs approval by the Seneca rank-and-file and federal government, would establish a 14-year revenue-sharing arrangement with an automatic seven-year renewal. The state anticipates more than $800 million in revenues during the initial 14-year period, according to the Pataki administration.

The legislation introduced Thursday would legalize slot machines for the Seneca casinos -- a point that drew swift opposition from several fronts. New York's two existing Indian casinos have video slots, considered a lesser form of gambling than the outlawed Las Vegas-style machines.

"We are certainly willing to go back to court to prevent slot machines from appearing in western New York casinos if it becomes necessary," said state Sen. Frank Padavan, a Queens Republican and the leading opponent in the state Legislature of gambling. Padavan attacked the influence of high-powered lobbyists Patricia Lynch, a former top aide to state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, and former Assembly Minority Leader Clarence Rappleyea, a Pataki political mentor, who are both working on behalf of the Senecas.

"It really isn't all that surprising that we are seeing such swift action and movement" toward casinos, Padavan said. "After all, money talks."

Opponents maintain that New York's state constitution specifically outlaws slot machines.

The Christian lobbying group New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, meanwhile, was exploring legal means to block the casino plans, its founder said.

"We're opposed on moral grounds primarily, but we also oppose it on economic grounds," said the Rev. Duane Motley. "Economics never develops. The numbers they throw around never come to fruition."

The New York State Catholic Conference also weighed in against the casinos, warning that gambling-related social ills would outweigh any economic benefits.

The casino bill came up as the state Senate prepared to leave Albany, probably until mid-July. The state Assembly planned to return to Albany next week before taking off on an early-summer recess.

Pataki and the state Legislature have been under heavy pressure from business interests in the Niagara Falls-Buffalo area, who say they have been unable to stem the tide of American dollars to Canada without casinos to compete with those just across the border.

Some 8.5 million gamblers, at least half of them Americans, generated $597 million in revenues at Canada's Casino Niagara last year.

The Seneca-state agreement was endorsed by the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, the region's premier business group.

"The agreement ... gives local government, business and community leaders a new opportunity which can -- if pursued carefully and in the context of overall development plans of related community issues -- have significant positive impact on the Buffalo Niagara economy," the group's chairman, Moog chief executive Robert Brady, said.