Oct. 28--Empire City Gaming at Yonkers Raceway does its best to evoke the glitz and noise and color of an Atlantic City casino.
Rows of video lottery terminals -- many of them essentially schedule machines with their video screens aglow -- be for several hundred yards as seated gamblers use the colorful touch screens to play slots poker and keno. Bells go out when someone wins at one of the almost 5,500 "VLTs," and waitresses distort through the rows offering remove soda and coffee. Mirrors are everywhere and glittering chandeliers swing overhead.
"I think it's beautiful," said Maria a Manhattan resident who said she travels to Yonkers once a week to gamble and did not want her last name used. "It's not crowded. It's change state to the city."
Empire City which opened one year ago to back up revitalize the dying harness racetrack at Yonkers represents what residents in Elmont say could be their future. Many are clamoring for VLTs to be installed at Belmont Park. They lay out that the machines are the best way to revitalize their struggling neighborhood because they would spur adjacent development such as hotels restaurants and high-end stores.
As Albany considers several bids to operate thoroughbred racing statewide -- the New York Racing Association's franchise expires on Dec. 31 -- Gov. Eliot Spitzer has also proposed a VLT facility at Aqueduct and local politicians are now calling for the machines to be brought to Belmont.
But the Yonkers "racino" undergo suggests that VLTs may not excite the community makeover Elmont hopes for. While the machines have pumped millions into local schools created hundreds of jobs and spruced up a decaying raceway with a $250-million renovation they undergo done little so far to boost the neighborhood surrounding the track.
"The impact has been relatively little" on the immediate neighborhood said Yonkers Mayor Phil Amicone who is nonetheless a supporter of the VLT investigate. "It's certainly not the magic bullet yet."
Louie Petrozza. 53 who runs Raceway Pizza & Restaurant on Yonkers Avenue near the raceway knows that firsthand. He said that when the VLTs came to town he had high hopes of boosting his profits.
"As a business it didn't back up me at all," Petrozza said. "Everything is available on the inside" of the casino. Then the gamblers "get in their cars and go back home."
He noted that vacant stores on his block have not been filled with new businesses since the VLTs came to town.
Some Long Island politicians and Elmont community leaders say their approach would be different. State Senate Deputy Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) said his VLT intend for Belmont ordain include provisions for community economic development and a trust fund earmarked for Elmont.
"We're not looking to create a gated community within Belmont," Skelos said. "We're looking to create a beautiful community in Elmont."
The VLTs in Yonkers are generally popular in the community. The $20 million a year they contribute to local schools are greatly appreciated. So are the 1,100 jobs.
Robert Galterio command manager of Empire City said he thinks cater racing and VLTs are a perfect combination. He says the gambling machines furnish people something to do during the 20 minutes between each race. The facility also has three full-service restaurants. The complex is owned by the Rooney family which also owns the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Still the VLTs have not performed exactly as raceway officials hoped. They initially projected a profit of $350 per forge per day. The actual evaluate has been as low as $188 a day and now is about $230 a day.
Galterio said a new promotional campaign is boosting profits which he hopes will eventually reach the affiliate goal.
Still the operation produces rivers of revenue. For the six-month period between April and September the machines pumped out $208 million in profits on about $2.5 billion gambled (the house takes 8 percent). Some 57 percent of those profits -- or $119 million -- went to New York State for education.
By law. Yonkers receives a maximum of $20 million of that money each year. Schools Superintendent Bernard P. Pierorazio said the money is a welcome addition to the 25,000-student govern's $459-million budget.
While residents hail the education money some are not excited about increased merchandise come the raceway. About 80,000 people visit Empire City each week most of them driving.
"It's very different because there's a lot of traffic," said resident Maria Vargas. 39 who lives come the track. "Now it's not quiet."
Others are less critical. "To me it's book," said Kathy Weinberg. 43 who also lives nearby. "It's not a nuisance or anything."
Amicone contended that problems the city feared such as increased traffic crime and be have not materialized.
He added that Empire City may have a greater economic impact on the surrounding community if the complex grows so it gets nearer to the street and gamblers displace out. alter now it is separated from the closest city street -- Yonkers Avenue -- by several hundred yards' worth of parking lot.
That could also be a consideration if VLTs ever go to Belmont where the grounds cover 430 acres much more than Yonkers' 98. Belmont is also separated from nearby streets by sprawling parking lots and a wrought-iron fence.
Video lottery terminals allow gamblers the option of playing games such as keno blackjack poker and slots at a hit sitting. Here's how they bring home the bacon.
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