GAMING THE CASINO TIMELINE: A push from the Legislature’s gaming chairs to speed up the bidding process for the three available downstate casino licenses is being considered in the final days of Legislative session. And that could spell doom for two bidders who need more time: entertainment giant Bally’s and Mets owner Steve Cohen, whose proposals require state approval to alienate parkland. “This bill is about a process, let’s start the process,” said Queens state Sen. Joseph Addabbo, who chairs the gaming commission and whose district includes Resorts World New York City, considered a favorite to earn one of the lucrative gaming licenses. “Remember, all of these entities — and they're all good, they're all credible — they've had two years already trying to figure this stuff out. And we're giving them another session year to do it.” “So there will be some sites that are just unattainable,” he added. “If that’s the case, we gotta move on.” One potential last-minute change to the licensing timeline being mulled by legislative leadership would threaten to dramatically shake up the process — and likely cut out Bally’s and Cohen, while giving an edge to two others regarded as shoe-ins, Yonkers’ Empire City and Resorts World NYC. Five people familiar with discussions in the Legislature say lawmakers are considering accelerating the licensing process to mid-year 2025 in a way that would threaten Cohen’s Citi Field-area project and Bally’s vision for a former Trump-managed golf course in the Bronx. It could also affect a bid for a Long Island proposal from the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, which is tied up in a legal dispute from neighboring Hofstra University. The measure being considered would ensure that casino bids from Empire City and Resorts World would have an even easier path toward procuring a license as the two sites already are approved for their existing gaming activities. Downstate casino licenses are expected to be doled out by the end of 2025, after a March announcement from the state’s Gaming Commission where the agency’s executive director insisted the process was “ahead of schedule.” Talks around changing that remain ongoing. “There are conversations with the governor’s office, the Assembly and Senate,” Pretlow told Playbook Sunday. The discussions around speeding up the timeline come about two weeks after Addabbo and Pretlow introduced a bill to dramatically speed up the casino timeline. That bill would have granted conditional licenses and allowed bids to finalize zoning and land use after being awarded a license. — Jason Beeferman ICYMI: THE POL WITH 46 TRAFFIC TICKETS. Assemblymember Emily Gallagher is alleging the New York Post has been “desperately trying to dig up dirt” on her after the tabloid published a piece on the lawmaker’s two-and-a-half year period of prolific parking penalties. In a lengthy Friday thread on X, Gallagher slammed The Post for pursuing a “nasty hit little piece [sic]” ahead of the story’s publication. The missive was written after Gallagher said she arrived home from Albany to find one of the Post’s tabloid photographers staked outside the following morning. “The goal here is to make me and other progressive politicians hate our jobs, to feel bad and scared, to try and shut us up,” she wrote on X. “And truthfully, it is unnerving to have a photographer camped out in front of your home! But the intimidation simply will not work on me or my community.” The tabloid’s piece did run over the weekend, and it shows safe-street advocate Gallagher’s relationship with parking rules to be a little more colorful than she had let on. Gallagher has been fined over $4,000 in the past two-and-a-half years in unpaid tickets, the Post’s story claims. That includes violations for parking in front of a fire hydrant at least six times. “I don't have speeding or school zone violations. Just some parking tickets I've paid,” she wrote Friday. In a statement to Playbook, Gallagher said, “Since my first run for office, the Post has been desperately trying to dig up dirt on me. Their latest investigative triumph: I have parking tickets. In a neighborhood with constant construction, film shoots and alternate side parking, it’s not hard to get a couple tickets a month — especially when I refuse to abuse my placard. We should implement a residential parking permit system. Until then, I’m happy to contribute to the city coffers!” — Jason Beeferman YIMBY MONEY: Build-more-housing advocacy group Open New York announced another round of endorsements this year — and its associated YIMBY super PAC Abundant New York is planning to spend “six figures” on Assemblymember Demond Meeks in Rochester and Gabriella Romero who is running for the open Albany seat. Other endorsements include Gallagher; Yi Andy Chen, who’s challenging Assemblymember Ron Kim in Queens; and Yvette Valdés Smith, who’s taking on Republican state Sen. Rob Rolison in the Hudson Valley. Abundant New York also plans to spend on Smith in the general. The independent expenditure committee is already boosting Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha’s primary, with mailers saying she’s “committed to fighting for tenants and the housing abundance that we deserve.” In that race, Open New York is breaking with some other real estate industry players, who are funding a Hudson Valley Voters super PAC to support Shrestha’s primary challenger, Gabi Madden. — Jeff Coltin
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