Before too long, New Yorkers and the millions of tourists who visit the city every year may have a new way to test their luck – and part with their money – amid the bright lights and skyscrapers of Midtown Manhattan: hands of blackjack or spins of the roulette wheel inside a new casino with all the trappings of Las Vegas, down to the incessant ringing and fluorescent flashing of a sea of slot machines.

This vision is one of many possibilities after state lawmakers in April approved up to three full-service casinos in the New York City area, a potentially seismic development that officials have touted as a way of attracting new jobs, tax revenue and visitors.