Casino news from http://www.buffalonews.com/
If Albany's interest is economic development for the Buffalo area, then the bulk of the [state's cut of casino] money should stay there, not go to Albany.
- William Thompson, UNLV professor and gambling industry expert, quoted in this column on July 11, 2001.
This is a good time to . . . get the discussion moving.
The revenues are essentially coming out of this community anyway.
- Rep. Brian Higgins, saying Buffalo should keep Albany's cut from a proposed downtown casino, July 1, 2006.
It took five years, but some politicians are coming to their senses about the proposed Buffalo casino.
A stand-alone Seneca Indian gambling hall would take in about $150 million a year, most of it from local pockets. Three of every four dollars would go to the Senecas. Albany would eventually get 25 percent of the slot machine take.
Buffalo would bear the big pain - from losses out of local budgets to bankruptcies and broken families - in return for a pittance, just a quarter of the state's share. It is not right, and Higgins - by pushing to get all of Albany's cut - wants to balance the scale.
The casino is no sure bet. Lawsuits are filed to stop it. If they can't, we deserve the best deal we can get.
Economic development from a casino is a myth in a nontourist city like Buffalo. The only way a casino works for a community is if it lures gamblers from parts distant - outsiders leaving their money here and taking their problems home. Instead, we would get the worst of all worlds - mostly locals dropping the dollars, with the Senecas and Albany pocketing most of the take. We need a faucet, and instead we get a drain.
I wrote all of this five years ago, using University of Nevada-Las Vegas' Thompson as an expert witness. I wrote it plenty of times since. The only way this thing makes half-sense - and probably still does more harm than good - is if Buffalo keeps all of the non-Seneca share, instead of Albany taking a cut. If that happens, we would pocket nearly $30 million a year.
Higgins wants to use that money to pump up our cultural attractions. A better zoo and restored Frank Lloyd Wright masterpieces and touring shows at Shea's will bring the outside dollars that a casino never will. The convention bureau, gutted by budget cuts, would get the money it needs to spread the word.
"The idea that the casino would bring people in from outside the area is a fallacy," Higgins said. "But what will bring people in is greatly enhanced cultural institutions."
It is part of a better road to revival: Forget silver bullets and focus on assets. It is why Higgins took on the transportation authority to force forward motion on the waterfront it oversees. It is why he fought - and won - to pry extra millions for the power generated by our natural resource in Niagara Falls. His push for a bigger share of proposed casino dollars is the latest shot in the battle.
The aim is to develop the waterfront. Repopulate downtown. Use our Wright stuff as the centerpiece of a monumental collection of buildings, which already draw visitors from around the world. Reclaim history at the Erie Canal terminus. Extra casino money can lift the reviving Zoo another step, spotlight our fabulous art museum, mark our spot on the Underground Railroad. All of it gives people reason to come here - and to stay for days, not hours.
It is another way to help Buffalo help itself. If that truly is what Albany wants - and that was the wrongheaded premise that got us the proposed casino - then it ought to go along. Higgins says the odds of a bigger casino cut for Buffalo improve if Eliot Spitzer, a fellow Democrat who has made favorable noises about it, is our next governor.
If we have to swallow the casino lemon, and that still is a big "if," at least let us turn it into lemonade.
|
|
