The chairman of the State Assembly Racing and Wagering Committee, Gary Pretlow (D-Westchester) has written to Governor Cuomo urging him to pull the plug on the state’s agreement with the Wisconsin Stockbridge-Munsee Tribe to build a casino and resort near Monticello.

At the same time, Thompson Town Supervisor Anthony Cellini has fired off a letter to the governor urging him to move forward with the project for the sake of the significant boost it would bring to the economy of the region and the state.

The US Department of the Interior must give the final word on whether the casino may be built and that decision could come by mid-February.

Pretlow’s letter, signed by several other assembly members, said Cuomo should review the proposal before he allows it to proceed.

Among his concerns are “financial consequences” of the agreement, the “adverse affect it would pose to other industries” in the state, environmental impact of the project to the New York City water supply, and the fact that Native American nations in New York “have invested in our state’s economy since the founding of our state and can create much needed jobs, realizing revenue for our state.”

In Cellini’s pitch to the governor to keep the project on track, he cited the “desperate need” for the project by the region and state in terms of jobs and direct and spinoff dollars.

(Source: MidHudsonNews.com)