Resorts World New York City added 1,400 slot machines on its first floor on Tuesday, opening the new space to the public as the Queens casino presses ahead with a $5.5 billion expansion. CDC Gaming reported that the machines were online that day.
The opening builds on April’s rollout of live table games and commercial slots. Resorts World cut the ribbon on 242 table games and 2,507 commercial slot machines, and said it was the first time live table games had operated in New York City.
Taken together, the property now has nearly 4,000 slot machines. The earlier rollout brought blackjack, craps, baccarat and roulette to the casino, which had operated as a slots-only facility before table play arrived.
The New York Post said the broader plan includes a second 400-room hotel tower and a 7,000-person concert arena. A state executive summary described the integrated resort as a $5.5 billion, 5.6 million-square-foot project intended to hold 6,000 slots, 800 gaming tables, 2,000 hotel rooms and a 7,000-seat arena.
A separate environmental review filed by the Franchise Oversight Board described phase two as an expansion on about 62 acres of the 72.6-acre lease area. It put the total project at 5,148,000 gross square feet, with hotel, casino, function and event space, arena space, retail and restaurant space, support space and about 7,000 parking spaces.
The filing identified Genting New York LLC, doing business as Resorts World Casino New York City, as the applicant, and said the proposed actions included approval of a gaming licence from the New York State Gaming Commission and a modification of the ground lease. It also noted that Aqueduct Racetrack opened in 1894, that the casino opened in 2011 on part of the former grandstand and that expansion proposals were made in 2014 and 2017.
Resorts World has also tied the buildout to jobs and public spending. In the spring, the company said it had hired and trained 1,250 new workers, including 950 table-game dealers, and that the facility employed 2,200 people, with more than 2,700 expected by summer. It also said the project had generated nearly $5 billion for New York State’s public education system since 2011, and proposed a $2 billion community benefits package, up to 50,000 units of workforce housing across the five boroughs and a $100 million infrastructure package.
Resorts World said the number of tables and commercial slot machines would double as the ground and first gaming floors open later this year.
