Genting Bhd, which controls Asia’s second-biggest casino operator by market value, almost doubled its spending on New York lobbying in the six months before Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed that the company build the largest U.S. convention center in New York City.
In the last half of 2011, Genting spent US$635,000 on lobbyists in the state, compared with US$340,000 in the first half of the year, according to disclosure reports released today in Albany, the capital. During his Jan. 4 State of the State address, Cuomo announced Genting’s proposal for a 3.8 million-square-foot complex in the borough of Queens that would replace the Jacob Javits Convention Center on Manhattan’s far West Side.
Genting Malaysia Bhd, a unit of the Kuala Lumpur-based gaming company, opened a casino with electronic games at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens on Oct. 28. Cuomo, a 54-year-old Democrat in his first term, wants to expand legalized gambling to include Las Vegas-style casinos with dealers, which would require an amendment to the state constitution.
“We have a proactive agenda that includes building a US$4 billion convention center -- at no cost to taxpayers -- and legalizing table gaming in New York,” Stefan Friedman, a Genting spokesman, said in an e-mail. “Both of these efforts will create tens of thousands of jobs and generate billions of dollars in economic revenue. We think those issues are important, and we know nothing comes without a lot of hard work.”
Genting’s spending on lobbyists in New York didn’t influence the governor, Josh Vlasto, a Cuomo spokesman, said in an e-mail. He declined to comment further.
‘Worth It’
Genting plans to spend US$4 billion on the project, Cuomo said. The state may provide land owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and approve more gaming machines for the site, Cuomo said.
“If the state was going to build it with public money, we could have an argument if it’s worth it,” Cuomo said Jan. 9 on former Governor David Paterson’s show on WOR radio in New York City. “If a private company wants to build it, I say God bless.”
A Florida Senate committee this month approved a proposal that would bring as many as three Las Vegas-style casinos to the state. Genting Malaysia has pitched lawmakers there on a US$3.8 billion casino-and-hotel complex on Miami’s Biscayne Bay.
In New York, Genting retained five lobbyists from July through December, paying $180,000, the most, to Cordo & Co. LLC, an Albany firm led by John Cordo, the former special counsel to the New York Senate Majority. The firm was also hired to help Genting win its bid to build New York City’s first casino at Aqueduct, according to the firm’s website. The gambling company paid Cordo & Co. US$375,000 last year. -- Bloomberg
In the last half of 2011, Genting spent US$635,000 on lobbyists in the state, compared with US$340,000 in the first half of the year, according to disclosure reports released today in Albany, the capital. During his Jan. 4 State of the State address, Cuomo announced Genting’s proposal for a 3.8 million-square-foot complex in the borough of Queens that would replace the Jacob Javits Convention Center on Manhattan’s far West Side.
Genting Malaysia Bhd, a unit of the Kuala Lumpur-based gaming company, opened a casino with electronic games at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens on Oct. 28. Cuomo, a 54-year-old Democrat in his first term, wants to expand legalized gambling to include Las Vegas-style casinos with dealers, which would require an amendment to the state constitution.
“We have a proactive agenda that includes building a US$4 billion convention center -- at no cost to taxpayers -- and legalizing table gaming in New York,” Stefan Friedman, a Genting spokesman, said in an e-mail. “Both of these efforts will create tens of thousands of jobs and generate billions of dollars in economic revenue. We think those issues are important, and we know nothing comes without a lot of hard work.”
Genting’s spending on lobbyists in New York didn’t influence the governor, Josh Vlasto, a Cuomo spokesman, said in an e-mail. He declined to comment further.
‘Worth It’
Genting plans to spend US$4 billion on the project, Cuomo said. The state may provide land owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and approve more gaming machines for the site, Cuomo said.
“If the state was going to build it with public money, we could have an argument if it’s worth it,” Cuomo said Jan. 9 on former Governor David Paterson’s show on WOR radio in New York City. “If a private company wants to build it, I say God bless.”
A Florida Senate committee this month approved a proposal that would bring as many as three Las Vegas-style casinos to the state. Genting Malaysia has pitched lawmakers there on a US$3.8 billion casino-and-hotel complex on Miami’s Biscayne Bay.
In New York, Genting retained five lobbyists from July through December, paying $180,000, the most, to Cordo & Co. LLC, an Albany firm led by John Cordo, the former special counsel to the New York Senate Majority. The firm was also hired to help Genting win its bid to build New York City’s first casino at Aqueduct, according to the firm’s website. The gambling company paid Cordo & Co. US$375,000 last year. -- Bloomberg
