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The Cuomo administration, frustrated at the Seneca Nation’s decision to stop making casino revenue sharing payments, is threatening to permit a new, non-Native American gambling hall near the tribe's casino in downtown Niagara Falls.
The state and Senecas have been at an impasse since the tribe earlier this year said it was halting payment of some $110 million a year to the state, which shares proceeds with localities in 16 Western New York counties. The tribe said the terms of its original 2002 compact is silent about any annual payments after the compact’s 14th year, which ran through the end of 2016.
“If they don’t fulfill their obligations to continue payments and to honor the compact, we are going to pursue putting an additional casino in Niagara Falls,’’ said a Cuomo official, speaking on condition of anonymity, on Monday.
Late Monday afternoon, the scope of the dispute shifted when the Cuomo administration said a meeting between the governor and the Seneca president is unlikely soon.
Spectrum News reported that the Erie County District Attorney’s Office has been investigating the discovery of a listening device sometime last year by New York State Gaming Commission officials in an office the agency leases from the Senecas at its Buffalo casino; the agency has regulatory oversight of casinos in New York and has staff at every Native American casino in the state. A source with direct knowledge of the investigation, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed to The Buffalo News that the device was discovered about a year ago.
“Given the publicly reported and verified criminal investigation in the Seneca Nation that commenced approximately a year ago, it would be inappropriate for the governor to meet with the Seneca Nation until the matter is resolved by the Erie County District Attorney,’’ Alphonso David, Cuomo’s counsel, said in a written statement.
Seneca President Todd Gates pushed back late Monday. He said he and Cuomo were due to meet in Niagara Falls on Tuesday but that Cuomo scuttled another meeting “over a completely unrelated legal issue” involving an employee at the Seneca Gaming Authority.
“Let me be clear, the allegations against the Seneca Gaming Authority employee have as much to do with the compact issue as the many ongoing investigations into Gov. Cuomo's economic development programs. Let's not distract from, nor try to politicize, the fact that Gov. Cuomo has now canceled two meetings with the Seneca Nation regarding an issue that is important to the people he was elected to represent,’’ Gates said. He referred to upcoming federal court trials involving people connected to Cuomo’s Buffalo Billion program.
Cuomo to Senecas: Continue payments or state will put a casino in Niagara Falls
The state and Senecas have been at an impasse since the tribe earlier this year said it was halting payment of some $110 million a year to the state, which shares proceeds with localities in 16 Western New York counties. The tribe said the terms of its original 2002 compact is silent about any annual payments after the compact’s 14th year, which ran through the end of 2016.
“If they don’t fulfill their obligations to continue payments and to honor the compact, we are going to pursue putting an additional casino in Niagara Falls,’’ said a Cuomo official, speaking on condition of anonymity, on Monday.
Late Monday afternoon, the scope of the dispute shifted when the Cuomo administration said a meeting between the governor and the Seneca president is unlikely soon.
Spectrum News reported that the Erie County District Attorney’s Office has been investigating the discovery of a listening device sometime last year by New York State Gaming Commission officials in an office the agency leases from the Senecas at its Buffalo casino; the agency has regulatory oversight of casinos in New York and has staff at every Native American casino in the state. A source with direct knowledge of the investigation, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed to The Buffalo News that the device was discovered about a year ago.
“Given the publicly reported and verified criminal investigation in the Seneca Nation that commenced approximately a year ago, it would be inappropriate for the governor to meet with the Seneca Nation until the matter is resolved by the Erie County District Attorney,’’ Alphonso David, Cuomo’s counsel, said in a written statement.
Seneca President Todd Gates pushed back late Monday. He said he and Cuomo were due to meet in Niagara Falls on Tuesday but that Cuomo scuttled another meeting “over a completely unrelated legal issue” involving an employee at the Seneca Gaming Authority.
“Let me be clear, the allegations against the Seneca Gaming Authority employee have as much to do with the compact issue as the many ongoing investigations into Gov. Cuomo's economic development programs. Let's not distract from, nor try to politicize, the fact that Gov. Cuomo has now canceled two meetings with the Seneca Nation regarding an issue that is important to the people he was elected to represent,’’ Gates said. He referred to upcoming federal court trials involving people connected to Cuomo’s Buffalo Billion program.
Cuomo to Senecas: Continue payments or state will put a casino in Niagara Falls
