Gambling is as much a part of the identity of America as hamburgers, baseball and even the Stars and Stripes. All round the country there are casinos where players can indulge their desire to win big on the roulette table or see a life-changing amount of cash come tumbling out of their favorite slot.

And in Las Vegas the nation has what could arguably be called the world capital of gambling. Even people who haven’t witnessed its neon-illuminated spectacle for themselves will have heard of famous casinos like Caesars Palace, The Bellagio and The MGM Grand.

Over on the other side of the country Atlantic City is almost as well known for its casinos which started to spring up in the late 1970s after the vote was passed by New Jersey to legalize casino gambling in the resort. Most people will also know that it was here that President Trump’s gambling empire was built, and then faltered.

Today there are still many famous casinos operating successfully there, none more so than The Borgata, owned by MGM Resorts. With an annual revenue of $755,095,858 in 2017, according to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, this was more than double the amount pulled in by its nearest rival, Harrah’s, at $363,705,437.

Then there are the casinos located on Native American reservations which not only have an entertainment objective, they also generate valuable revenue for the communities themselves helping to finance everything from schools to local services. Of course it can also be said that all casinos have a very positive effect on an area’s economy with visitors drawn by the prospect of gambling who then go on to spend hundreds of dollars per head on accommodation, meals and even souvenirs of their stay.

Above all, casinos are exciting, vibrant places that add more than a little glamour and excitement wherever they are, as well as providing yet another entertainment option not just for visitors but for an area’s permanent residents too.

The New York position

So, given all this, it does seem strange that possibly America’s most exciting and vibrant city, New York, doesn’t have any world-famous casinos. There are a limited number, but there’s certainly none that capture the imagination of the tourists. There are plenty of casinos upstate and at resorts like the Catskills, but there is a severe lack of them on Manhattan itself.

They also say that money follows money so, as the nation’s financial powerhouse you might also expect that a leisure industry based entirely around the chance to win fortunes would thrive. This is especially true when you consider that there’s probably nothing that the Wall Street players would like more after a day’s gambling on the world’s stock and currency markets than to relax in the evening and indulge in a very different kind of wagering.

However, the first stumbling block that anyone wanting to open a casino in the heart of the city is, unsurprisingly, legislation. As with the rest of the country, this is governed primarily by State Law and up until 2013 this decreed that the only gambling that could take place was at horse racing tracks and at casinos within Native American Reservations. However, 2013 saw voters pass an amendment to the New York State constitution that would allow the building of Las Vegas-style resorts.

But before any plans could be drawn up to start bringing some of the glitz of the Nevada city 2,500 miles east to The Big Apple State, Governor Cuomo said in no uncertain terms that Manhattan would not be included in the plan. As he said at the time, “We want to create destination locations that are not just casinos. Hotels, entertainment, etc., large physical plants, creation of hundreds of jobs — and that’s not Manhattan.”

In his view, they were to be used as “regional revitalisation tools” and the thriving heart of New York was certainly in no need of revitalisation. Looking at the figures that suggest over 60 million tourists visited New York in 2016 he may have had a point.

World-class entertainment

With world-class museums and art galleries, iconic sights as well as the irresistible draw of Broadway shows to equal anything you could see in Las Vegas there is certainly more than enough to keep everyone entertained without needing to visit the casino.

Another consideration has to be the space that would be required to build a resort-style casino in Manhattan. Even if the land were available on what is already a very densely populated island, the cost of a record breaking average of $1,759 per square foot would make it prohibitively expensive before even a single brick had been laid. So, unlike other world cities like Macau in China where the last couple of decades have seen huge construction projects of luxury hotels and casinos which generated a gross gaming revenue for 2016 of $28 billion, this is not an option for New York City.

But there is a definite appetite for casinos among many visitors and there’s no reason why Manhattan shouldn’t follow a city like London which has a number of smaller-scale casinos right in its heart and which provide plenty of opportunities for tourists and Londoners alike to enjoy a night at the tables or the slots.

The online casino question

There’s also the question of online gaming to be considered. Over the state border in New Jersey anyone is allowed to play online casino games whenever and wherever they want to but this is also forbidden not just in Manhattan, but all across New York State. Even if you buy the argument that casinos are intended to boost a local economy and regenerate an area as was the case with Atlantic City then there is no conceivable reason to block the online version of the activity.

So it does seem like there are options available if New York City does want to add casinos, real or virtual, to its list of attractions, but it’s going to need the political will to make it happen. It’s impossible to say if this will make a difference but the current occupant of the White House is known to support casinos as well as always wanting the best for his home city. Whether this could result in casinos for Manhattan, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Shift Frequency © 2018 – Will NYC ever become a big player in the gambling scene?