Pataki To Review Seneca's Casino Plan

The Seneca Indian Nation's decision to put a casino in the suburbs, rather than revenue-starved Buffalo, will be the topic of a high-level strategy session in Albany next week. Soon after the Seneca Tribal Council voted for a Cheektowaga site, Erie County Executive Joel Giambra said he arranged a meeting with Mayor Anthony Masiello and Gov. George Pataki for Tuesday.


Masiello has lobbied hard for a downtown casino as an economic stimulus, and it was widely assumed when the legislation allowing casino gambling was passed that Buffalo would benefit. While Masiello called the Senecas' decision Thursday "very disappointing," he indicated he wasn't ready to write off the potential millions of dollars he had hoped to see from a share of slot-machine revenues.


"It was this mayor who lobbied the governor and the state Legislature and others to work with the Seneca Nation to allow casino gaming here," Masiello spokesman Matt Brown said. "It would be very unfortunate after that type of championing that Buffalo would miss out on the economic investment and potential economic spinoff of a casino in downtown Buffalo."


The 2001 legislation allowing the Senecas to build three casinos in western New York names Buffalo as a potential site, but allows the Senecas to explore other locations.


The Senecas initially sought to take over the Buffalo Convention Center but were told the building was not for sale.


"The door was slammed in our face so we looked at alternate sites, according to the compact," Seneca President Rickey Armstrong said.


Pataki spokesman Joe Conway said the administration would talk with Seneca and local leaders about the location in the coming days.


Ultimately, the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs will have the final say for any Seneca venue, he said.


Armstrong said the Tribal Council would meet late next week to prepare its proposal to the bureau and hoped to have a casino open in Cheektowaga within a year.


The Senecas opened their first casino in Niagara Falls on New Year's Eve and have been pleased with its success.


Giambra said he continues to favor that the second casino be built in Niagara Falls, also. But failing that, he said, any Erie County casino should be in Buffalo.


Giambra said he sought the meeting with Pataki to consider options and said he would make his concerns known to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.


In Cheektowaga, Supervisor Dennis Gabryszak welcomed the selection of a 70-acre site near Buffalo Niagara International Airport, citing the presence of hotels and restaurants.


Under the state's gambling agreement with the Senecas, the state receives up to 25 percent of slot machine profits and the casino host communities get 25 percent of the state's share, or 6.2 percent. Niagara Falls expects to receive about $9 million from the Seneca Niagara Casino at the end of this year.