New York State recently granted licenses to three casinos—Bally’s in the Bronx, Hard Rock Metropolitan Park near Citi Field, and Resorts World near the Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens.
The $64 million question is, “Will this hurt Atlantic City casinos and their customer base?”
Many of Atlantic City’s current visitors come from the New York City area, so this will hurt AC in the short run as people want to check out what the new places have to offer, says Jane Bokunewicz, director of Stockton University’s Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism.
“But in the long run, Atlantic City has a lot of unique properties that New York doesn’t have, so they can be successful in the long run after everyone sees the initial casinos and then hopefully chooses to return to Atlantic City,” Bokunewicz said.
