Did the NYS Gaming Commission Make a Mockery of the Law?

NYS Gaming Commission to Make Final Vote on NYC Casinos Today

December 15, 2025 / NYC Issues / NYC Business / Queens News / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz.

All 3 Downstate NYC Casinos Approved by NYS

The NYS casino licenses approved include Ballys in the Bronx, an expansion of Resorts World Casino in Queens, and Steve SAC Capital Cohen's Metropolitan Park at Flushing Meadows Corona Park [see story below].

The rest of this was posted before the NYS Gaming Commission vote noted above, but represents an important back story about how TV news and NYC and NYS government officials failed their community. It's also about what appears to be letting a predatory fox into the community chicken coop.

Today at 1 pm, the NYS Gaming Commission is expected to vote on the final approvals of NYS casino licenses in New York City. Bally's in the Bronx and Metropolitan Park licenses will be voted upon. The final vote, according to a Spectrum News report today, is to address the following, " ... The commission is expected to ratify the board's recommendation Monday after one final review of each applicant's ethical and financial qualifications before issuing the licenses ...".

In the photo above or at right you can see community members trying to make their voices heard in the Corona neighborhood in Queens. The protesters oppose the Metropolitan Park Casino planned which will, in essence takeover some of the parkland in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. But you won't hear about this on the corporate billionaire TV News Networks, because they appear to be protecting the interests of one of their own, by not reporting this to the community.

Nowhere in Spectrum New reports did I find any discussion of Steve Cohen's SAC Capital being involved in the largest insider trading scandal in modern history involving a hedge fund. Steve Cohen named the firm he founded, SAC Capital, after himself - Steve A. Cohen. The firm was fined $1.8 BILLION. Cohen himself was not found guilty in the courts, but journalists covering the story believed that he had fostered a 'culture of corruption'. Based on how the NY Mets ball club has conducted itself since Cohen took over - that description may also apply to them.

Apparently Ethics Don't Seem to Matter Anymore - Just $$$

So, will the NYS Gaming Commission, make a mockery of the importance of ethical considerations, in the disposition of gaming licenses, by awarding Steve Cohen a license? Given how corrupt our municipal [Adams] and state governments [Cuomo √ | Hochul ?] appear to have functioned recently, I'll bet they don't give a damn. But we'll find out later today.

Here are a few related links. The third link will take you to a report by NY Magazine goes to the heart of the possible motivating forces behind the actions of campaign funded government officials, the fourth link is a very short video discussing how Steve Cohen appeared to dodge conviction in the courts, and the fifth link is to an earlier report on the back story we did on Steve SAC Capital Cohen's 'Black Edge'.

• CLICK here to read the rest of our report on NYS Gaming Commission seems to Ignore Ethics Section of the Law in Approving Steve SAC Capital Cohen's Metropolitan Park Casino in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens NYC.

Did the NYS Gaming Commission Make a Mockery of the Law?

NYS Gaming Commission to Make Final Vote on NYC Casinos Today

December 15, 2025 / NYC Issues / NYC Business / Queens News / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz. Continued.

Here's a local Facebook page about the gaming commission's ethics requirement.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/jacksonheights/posts/10163288745263965/

Here's a Spectrum report about the parkland aspect of the Metropolitan Park proposal. Spectrum reporter Erroll Lewis does a great job of avoiding the most important issue - that Steve Cohen founded SAC Capital which was involved in the largest insider trading scandal by a hedge fund in modern American history. And it shows how NYS Senator John Liu appeared to do a 180 betrayal of the interests of the community he represents in favor of Cohen's casino $$$.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq0Ihy_xBbM

And here's a report in NY Magazine on December 2, 2025 about how apparently corrupt Eric Adams and the NYS Democratic party [aka Kathy Hochul's vote] are. Wherein, they seem to trade the interests of the communities they are supposed to serve, in favor of their own and the Democratic party campaign funding cash.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/steve-cohen-mets-queens-casino.html

And here's a very short video by Business Insider on February 26, 2017, explaining, in a nutshell, how the federal prosecutors nailed SAC Capital, but were unable to nail slippery Steve Cohen himself.

LINK

Here's an earlier report we published about Steve Cohen's ethical eligibility for an NYC / NYS casino license, for Metropolitan Park Casino in Flushing, and his 'black edge' history.

https://www.gothambuzz.nyc/article/606/steve-cohen-sac-capital-metropolitan-park-casino-queens

Black Edge, Steve SAC Capital Cohen, is shown in the photo above or at right.

Going forward, keep in mind that little to none of this was reported on any billionaire TV News network in NYC. If you think billionaire TV news is informing you about things that really matter to your quality of life, safety, public resource allocation, pocketbook and everything else - you're flying blind and still don't even know it. Our public media / public information system is badly broken - especially traditional TV and radio.

But the people's press is still alive on the web. And folks need to migrate their news consumption to news sites on the web, if we are to have any chance of surviving the billionaire takeover of our democracy.

The following is a separate but related item worth noting.

Case Study: Billionaire TV News Fails to Fully Inform - Trump Reiner Remarks

12/15/25. Tonight. Following a review of the corporate TV Network Evening News shows reporting on the death of Rob Reiner, I found that only the ABC TV News report included full context, by mentioning a reference to Donald Trump's despicable Truth Social post, bashing the popular, recently-deceased actor and director.

All of the other billionaire controlled corporate broadcast TV News Networks [meaning excluding CNN] left Trump's completely insensitive rant out of their reports. This is worth noting because these same TV Networks seem to repeat almost every despicable racist rant made by Trump, every day, all day long, ever since Trump first announced he was running for president in 2015.

So why did the billionaire TV Networks decide to omit Trump's depraved rants, attacking a beloved American icon who opposed Trump? Was it because Trump is a fellow billionaire? Or was it because one or more of them, like the Ellisons' CBS, have business deals in play that Trump can influence [hostile takeover of Paramount / CNN]. Or perhaps it was because it clearly showed Trump's complete lack of any moral compass, that goes far beyond his bigoted racism?

The TV News shows I watched included: 1) the Ellisons' CBS at 5 pm with no mention, 2) the Murdochs' Fox News at 10 pm with no mention, 3) Perry Sook's Nexstar's WPIX at 10 pm with no mention, 4) Brian Roberts' NBC at 11 pm with no mention, and 5) the outlier who properly their job of reporting fully, Iger's ABC, at 5 pm with a mention.

Keep this in mind. It helps you understand which of the TV Networks is reporting the news, and which of them are manipulating the news and hence you (if you're in their audience).