Queens Casino Picked, But Don't Save Your Quarters Just Yet

Hey, remember those three crazy proposals to turn the haggard Aqueduct race track in eastern Queens into a mini-Las Vegas? One was selected, kinda, and now politicians are fighting over it and everybody's confused as to what the heck is going on. City Room reports that Governor Patterson picked the plan submitted by Delaware North—the least ambitious/insane of the three, but the one offering the most money upfront to the state ($370 million). That's not very surprising given the state's budget problems, but not everyone is happy with the selection of Delaware North to redevelop the track into a hotel/casino/pleasuredome along the A Train, even if the company did promise "a lot of electricity." One of the other three dudes who run the state, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, said in a statement, "it appears that in an effort to close the budget deficit, Governor Paterson has made a choice that may not be in the best long term interests of the state or for the communities that surround Aqueduct." Basically, Skelos is stalling (maybe he's pissed that Hard Rock didn't get the nod—they have Ace Frehley's boots!), and now Patterson's aides are ripping him apart like a pack of wild dogs. In the meantime, we will continue our regularly scheduled blackouts in Atlantic City.
· Fight Heats Up Over Aqueduct’s Future [City Room]
· The Queens Casino: 21 Subway Stops to Paradise [Curbed]For more stories from Curbed, go to curbed.com.

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