In a major move, less than 50 days into his tenure as governor, Eliot Spitzer put pen to paper, formally issuing his concurrence to the Secretarial “two-part” determination originally issued by the Department of the Interior in April, 2000. Governor Spitzer also signed an amendment to the tribe’s existing gaming compact which specifically grants the necessary approval for the Sullivan County casino.
Spitzer’s concurrence supports the federal finding which originally concluded that the Tribe’s proposed Monticello casino development would serve the best interests of the Tribe and not prove detrimental to the surrounding communities. Additionally, in December 2006, the Department of Interior issued a “Finding of No Significant Impact” (FONSI) concluding
that the Tribe’s proposed project will have “no significant impact” on the natural environment or the surrounding human environment. Governor Spitzer’s concurrence signifies the final step in the federal two-part determination process.
Further signaling his unequivocal support for the proposed Mohawk casino and entertainment complex, Spitzer simultaneously approved a gaming compact amendment that specifically addresses the Monticello casino project and site. The compact amendment provides for revenue sharing payments beginning with 20 percent of slot revenue for the first and second years, 23 percent in years three and four, and finally, 25 percent in years after
four and thereafter.
“Gaining the governor’s concurrence and his approval on the gaming compact is a momentous achievement for his new administration, the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, the people of Sullivan County, and the citizens of New York State. His decision will help to secure the future of the upstate economy and will undoubtedly ignite the revitalization of the Catskills
region,” said Tribal Chief Lorraine M. White.
The governor’s signature on the two-part determination and the gaming compact now enables the Tribe’s casino project to advance to the final stage of federal review and obtain the necessary approval on the Tribe’s application to place approximately 29 acres of land into federal trust status.
New York Governor Eliot Spitzer said, “I am pleased by this agreement, which will benefit New Yorkers and Mohawks alike. We will now stand together in urging the federal government to act swiftly on final authorization for the project.”
The proposed $600 million Monticello casino project involves construction of a grand 766,000 square-foot two-story casino and entertainment complex featuring approximately 125 table games, 3,500 slot machines, 24 poker tables, and numerous restaurant and retail venues. It
expected to generate more than 3000 jobs.
(Source: PRNewswire)
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31 Responses
mountain goers – you’ll have to leave by noon on Thursdays to get there for Shabbos. ok, ok I am exagerating, however, folks, whatever time you gave yourself last year, it would be wise to increase it once the casino is up and running.
This a good thing for the Catskills.
The tax revenue it will bring in will take the pressure off the summer residents and second home owners.
i do not think that they will decrease the taxes – once the local towns get a tax base, they hold it tight.
This is a terrible thing for the frum community who spends summers in the Catskills. Gambling takes a terrible toll on families and some frum people will end up going to the casinon and getting trapped in a gambling addiction. A person who approves such a thing is not a friend of frum Jews anywhere.
Baruch Hashem!! now there won’t be a destructive concert on Motzei Shabbat Nachamu
There goes the country, we all enjoyed the tranquility for so many years. I myself have been going to the country for years, I hope we won’t have to find someplace else to spend the summer.
Don’t forget the frum JEWS are a great source of income for many non-jewish catskill residents, Look at all the developments that yiden are building all over the place. We bring lots of buisness to their stores. It’s disappointing.
Glad that Harris hospital is getting a face lift, with a casino and its clientele, more car accidents, and acts of violence will be occuring.
Chaim Yankel, see the bigger picture. One of the reasons our communities go to the Catskills is to get away from the pretzus of the city. The casino will make Monticello a magnet for immorality. Can you imagine the camps trying to keep their staff out of the casino? And do you think we have a gambling problem now? How many families will this casino ruin? How many camps and bungalo colonies will be forced to consider moving or closing? We have too much invested in the Catskills to lay back and allow this to go through without any opposition.
When Atlantic City opened casinos the Agudah moved the convention… Where will they mover Camps Agudah, Bnos and Chayil…. I;m thinking Scranton
chaim do u honesly believe that? r u that psyco? when did taxes ever get easier on nj after ac opened and anywhere for that matter? some ppl just dont think.. incretible
Just watch. I am sure a group of chasidim will file some ridiculous law suit trying to block the idea.
Is this the way governer spitzer pays us back 4 our support!!
…I am sure a group of chasidim will file some ridiculous law suit trying to block the idea…
You don’t have to be a ‘Chosid’ to grasp the gravity of the situation. The law does not have to be ‘ridiculous’. You just have to get your senses straight. Try to get a picture of this terrible institution in operation. Imagine its impact of decent human society. Now imagine its impact on frum Yidden who come up there to relax and be shielded from destructive external negative influences. – No cause for name calling or ridiculing
dont bet on this ever being a reality
Fmlogic123 has suggested moving the camps to the Scranton area.
Not such a great idea! Pennsylvania is also experimenting with casinos, and the Scranton area could also use the business.
We cannot avoid the compulsive gambling problem by running away from it. It is my opinion and speculation that the Poconos will soon have casino gambling. I’d give you 2-1 odds on it!
While everyone, myself included are upset that Elliot Spitzer approved the gambling, let us remember that he is only a shliach of HaShem. Could it be that HaShem would like us to daven to Him to beg of Him that this terrible situation not come to fruition?
Yochie, Please answer me this one question. Do jews in the Catskill region own the area? Further more, jews frequent the area primarily 2-3 months out of the entire year. We are guests in this country, get it? when we make too much noise that causes the gentiles to hate us even more. So if this law passes you will have to rent some dinky old bungalow some place else.
One thing that no one mentioned here, to all you bungelow/home OWNERS:
The value of your property just doubled….
Yes, I have seen the bigger picture. No taxes will not decrease, but they will not need to increase at the rate they have been.
Yes, there are those that go and gamble and guess what, they do it already! They go to CT, to AC and yes, believe or not, right here on the internet!
This whole project will bring much needed relief to this area and take away many of the issues (both $$ and political) that the local/year round residents have with the frum community that comes up for 10 weeks.
If camps and bugalow colonies think they can not keep their staff from going to a casino, then our community has many, many bigger problems than this one casino.
Chaim Yankel, I never said that we have no problems without the casino. However, it is certainly not in our interest to have our problems exacerbated. Is it a problem that our children are drawn after goishe culture? Yes. Do we have a duty to shelter them (and ourselves) from these influences as much as is humanly possible? Yes.
Question about all this handwringing resulting from the decision to allow a casino in Monticello – do we not condone gambling by allowing all of the raffles and “Chinese” (is there another way to refer to this events without resorting to pejoratives?) auctions that seem to have exploded upon the Jewish fundraising scene?
MIKEDREZZ is more correct than even he knows when he says that:
“We are guests in this country, get it? when we make too much noise that causes the gentiles to hate us even more.”
The editor will likely not allow me to post the link, but a White Supremacist website has been quoting discussion from this very board–most notably anti-Goy” remarks–as an illustration of why the Jews need to be “exterminated” (their words).
Now, you can go ahead and say that nothing we say is going to make a Neo Nazi like us, but that doesn’t mean we have to speak about non-Jews in a derogatory and public manner. Yes, Yingelach and Maidelach, the internet is public.
If you want to find the site, do a search for my screen name in quotes in Google.
oiberchuchum, there is a big difference between raffles and -auctions and gambling. In the former the odds are so low that noone in their right mind enters with even the smallest expectation to win. There is thrill in winning, but it is the thrill of a windfall, and not a thrill one feels is in ones power to duplicate. It is, therefore, not nearly as addictive. Gambing on the other hand offers much higher odds. There is often an element of skill involved as well. These factors mean frequent gratification that one feels is in his power to duplicate. That leads to addiction.
Spitzer won by a huge landslide, he promised to develop upstate and bring them jobs, this is one way of doing it. The fact that some Heimishers voted for him means nothing. Just stay away from the casinos, it’s not that difficult. Besides, it’ll be a bunch of old ladies and Chinese playing the slots, not exactly terribly immoral.
(Edited)
charedim
im interested in that site
google search as instructed comes up empty except for your posts here
feivel
Charedim,
I second your words (shall we say Shehechiyanu?), except for the inapppropriate tone in “Yes, Yingelach and Maidelach, the internet is public.”
You words will have greater effect by omitting the sarcasm. Otherwise, I completely agree. This is the public sphere, and thoughtless comments can so easily be taken out of context.
oh my, some group that hates us and has had a deisire to kill us well before the internet was invented is offended when we post not nice things about them… what do you suggest we do CKY… pack away our keyboards and stick to unsigned letters to the editor? maybe we chould all change are handles to “duke” or “byrd” (as in the senator) or _____ (fill in the blank of some other noted ku klux klannner).
Mike Drezz
I totally agree that we should stop making demands and attempt to bully the whole world into doing things our way.We are DEFINITLY an ‘am keshei oref’
(stubborn nation). NO DOUBT!
HOWEVER…..’we are guests in this Country…….cause gentiles to hate us more’
Allow me to phrase it a bit differently. WE ARE NOT GUESTS..WE ARE MINORITIES. BUT WE ARE THE AM HANIVCHOR, THE CHOSEN NATION THE ONLY NATION THAT ACCEPTED THE TORAH.
Because, ‘eisov soineh l’yaakov’ your right, we should try to minimize and provoke less antisemitism by refraining from thougtless remarks.
But we can do all that WITHOUT misrepresenting ourselves as ‘guests’.
Please lets keep our JEWISH PRIDE AFLOAT!
ps CKY
I must say its not very ‘chareidish’ of you not to have made that point in your post! I would have expected it!
..Yochie, Please answer me this one question. Do jews in the Catskill region own the area? Further more, jews frequent the area primarily 2-3 months out of the entire year. We are guests in this country, get it? when we make too much noise that causes the gentiles to hate us even more…
——————————————————-
I’ll try.
1) ‘Do Jews (probably mean Yidden) in the Catskill region own the area?’ They don’t own the AREA as anyone else doesn’t OWN the AREA. We OWN property IN the AREA. As do the non-Jews. Are we less entitled to an opinion? Is stating a consideration – the same as that of the locals – called making ‘noise’?
2) ‘Further more, jews frequent the area primarily 2-3 months out of the entire year.’ Again. A lot of us frequent the place in the winter season too. There are many Frum Kehilos out there. Others OWN property (houses, camps, colonies) there the year round, regardless of whether they stop by during the winter.
3) ‘We are guests in this country, get it?’ Mind you – who is the Baal Habayis? We are ALL guests in this world. As far as this country, are you incriminating that Yidden don’t belong??? As Rabbi Miller זצ”ל said about this matter, your self-hate & scorn of Yidden is a consequence of being exposed to non-Jewish views and opinions. Yidden of all the doros held their pride. Something to think about. (got it?)
4) ‘when we make too much noise that causes the gentiles to hate us even more’ I suggest you do a research of history – accompanied by seforim / Daas Torah on the matter. When we Yidden stood up for HaShem, His Torah or His Mitzvos, the world held us in the highest esteem. When we stand up for MORALITY and make NOISE about it, the world looks up to us. They know it’s our function to do so, whether we like it or not. They know we’re different and THEREFORE respect us for it. What causes the gentiles to hate us even more? As proven time and again and written in many seforim, it’s the mingling and fraternity with them. It’s HaShem’s miraculous method of keeping us Yidden apart and holy to HIM. Whenevery we try to get too close, HE gets them to be angry and envious towards us, etc. … and history repeats itself. So long as we’re doing our LEGAL hishtadlus – for Kovod Shamaim, we have no cause for apprehension or worry. (Many points here are based on seforim/shiurim of Rav Miller זצ”ל.)
chaim just remembber also that casinos lower the quality of life as well.. it atracts “Zenus” drugs and low ppl.. its not in any way shape or form a good thing.. please dont be naive