SARATOGA SPRINGS - Tioga Downs could begin offering table games and slot machines as soon as November after the state Gaming Commission approved its bid for a state casino license Tuesday.
The commission's 4-0 vote came after a lengthy selection and investigation process that stretched for more than two years for the Tioga County racino, whose owner Jeff Gural had long been seeking to upgrade his facility to a full-fledged casino.
It was an anti-climactic end to a turbulent quest for Tioga Downs: The racetrack facility was initially rejected for a license in 2014 before Southern Tier officials were able to publicly pressure the state into reopening the process last year.
The Gaming Commission approved the license without any public debate.
"It feels great," said Gural, who shook hands and small-talked with commission members following the vote. "I really feel good for the people up there (in the Southern Tier), to be honest. I don't have to worry about Jeff Gural, but for people in the Southern Tier, this is a real big development."
► Previously: Full casino heading for Tioga Downs
► First round: Traditions, Tioga Downs shut out
► Tioga Downs to state board: We're ready to be a casino
Tioga Downs' application was approved by the state Gaming Facility Location Board in October, which launched a lengthy, mandated background check in which the Gaming Commission and New York State Police investigators examined the plan's details and financial backers.
Tuesday's vote was the last step for Tioga Downs and Gural to receive the state's license to operate a private casino.
Construction is nearly complete on the major expansion to the existing racetrack casino facility, which currently offers video-lottery terminals but not traditional table games or slot machines.
When completed, the 32,000-square-foot casino will have a hotel, 1,000 slot machines, 50 table games and a poker room. Gural has pledged a minimum capital investment of $122.6 million in the facility, located in the town of Nichols.
Despite receiving final approval, Tioga Downs will still have to wait for the Gaming Commission to approve regulations governing the four new casinos before it can add table games and slot machines to its existing portfolio of video-lottery terminals.
The commission proposed a wide variety of regulations for slot machines and table games Tuesday, which will be put to a public comment period for at least 45 days beginning in mid-September before they can be adopted.
The earliest the commission will be able to approve the rules is November.
Speaking to reporters, Gural said he will be able to open within 24 hours of the Gaming Commission approving the rules — if they allow him to install, but not use, slot machine and table game equipment before the regulations take effect.
Otherwise, he said, he will have to decide whether to open in December or wait until after the holiday season for a grand opening.
"I'll have to talk to my friends in the industry and see what they think," he said.
About two dozen people, including staff members, were on hand for the Aug. 30 meeting of the state Gaming Commission in Saratoga Springs. (Photo: Jon Campbell / USA TODAY Network)
Gural's bid for a New York casino has not been without its challenges.
Voters approved a constitutional amendment to authorize up to seven private casinos in 2013.
The state first made four casino licenses available in 2014, limiting them to areas north of New York City and east of Route 14, which draws a north-south line halfway between Rochester and Syracuse. (The Seneca Indian Nation has exclusive rights to operate casinos in western New York.)
In December 2014, the Gaming Facility Location Board rejected Tioga Downs' first application, instead recommending just three licenses for projects in Seneca, Schenectady and Sullivan counties. The proposed Traditions Resort and Casino in the Broome County town of Union was also rejected.
Gural and Southern Tier officials publicly and repeatedly criticized the decision, leading Gov. Andrew Cuomo to ask the Gaming Commission to re-open bidding for the fourth available license, which was limited to the Southern Tier.
The second round of bidding attracted only one suitor: Tioga Downs. In October, the facility location board recommended Tioga Downs receive the fourth license.
Now, Tioga Downs could be the first of the four casinos to open, despite being the last to receive the license. Since Gural's facility already operates as a racetrack casino, it took less time to convert.
"The process has not been rushed through," said Robert Williams, executive director of the Gaming Commission. "But the timing is perfect at this point. All the different elements aligned, and it was appropriate for commission consideration today."
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