YONKERS NEWSWIRE: An Alarming Drop At The Empire City Casino At #Yonkers Raceway, Which Previously Produced $290.5 Million In Education Funding, But Only Brought In $60.9 Million Last Year - By Brian Harrod.

 

YONKERS NEWSWIRE: An Alarming Drop At The Empire City Casino At #Yonkers Raceway, Which Previously Produced $290.5 Million In Education Funding, But Only Brought In $60.9 Million Last Year - By Brian Harrod PHOTO: The cratering of revenues at at the Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway during the coronavirus pandemic has damaged Governor Andrew Cuomo’s budget and made New York state’s schools losers. YONKERS: Casino revenues dedicated to education and the state treasury have plummeted by $600 million in the current fiscal year and about a quarter of that is caused by the Empire City Casino at the Yonkers Raceway. The Empire City Casino was closed for five months and produced no revenues for New York State from April to August. Then fewer gamblers showed up at the Yonkers Racino when the electronic gambling parlor reopened, leading to a drop in typical monthly revenues. It is unclear, if the the haul from its Lottery games can make up the education funding gambling gap in New York. It is said that the $850 million Mega Millions jackpot, $730 million Powerball jackpot and the $15.5 million Lotto jackpot have helped revenue over the last couple of weeks, but many doubt that it will be enough to make up for lost revenue at the Westchester County casino. Gov. Andrew Cuomo is seeking to close the multi-billion shortfall with legalizing mobile sports betting. Some lawmakers agree with the governor and say the loss of casino revenues during the pandemic bolsters the case to legalize mobile Sports Betting. Currently, New Yorkers can only wager on sports by showing up one of the four upstate casinos. Last month, nearly $1 billion in sports bets were wagered on New Jersey's betting site and some estimate that about a fifth of that cash comes from New York betters. https://www.facebook.com/groups/YonkersNewswire/permalink/2876496582607901/