OPINION: New York City’s billionaires are debasing themselves for a casino license

It’s been a few months since New York opened the bidding process for the three downstate casino licenses, and billionaires have spent much of that time falling all over themselves to win New York City’s. Owning a casino is widely acknowledged to be like printing money (unless you’re Donald Trump, but even then, also, sort of), something that few among the obscenely wealthy business types can resist. Right now, real-estate giants like Related and SL Green, hedge-funder/Mets owner Steve Cohen, real estate scion Steven Soloviev, and Coney Island magnate Joe Sitt have all thrown down a $1 million application fee to be in the running.