MONTICELLO - Across the smooth, winter sheen of the Catskills' Kiamesha Lake, the 1,200-room Concord Resort Hotel stands white, ultra-modern - making the claim it is still a destination.
A pedestrian walks by the old Broadway Movie Theater, one of many deserted businesses along Broadway, Monticello's main commercial strip. Reid Silverman / The Citizen
But drive closer and the quadrangle of streets around the Concord is barren of activity, and nearby buildings are littered with graffiti. A string of barbed wire atop a chainlink fence protects the hotel itself from spray paint vandalism.
Clinton/Gore 1996 bumper stickers slapped on two nearby road signs leave the sense that one of the premiere destinations of the Catskills' hotel heyday has been shuttered up and left to rot.
The Concord - which once held bragging rights for having the largest dance club in the world - now only has broken windows, decrepit tennis courts and tall, gangly evergreens standing guard and blocking the view. The property deteriorated drastically over the last five years following its bankruptcy in 1998 and sale for $10.25 million in 1999.
But the Concord - along with four other sites in Sullivan County - is being reimagined by casino developers as a casino/hotel/time share/shopping/golfing/entertainment resort.
The Concord could be the site for the Seneca-Cayugas of Oklahoma casino, one of the five casinos proposed for Sullivan County in legislation from Gov. George Pataki. The legislation would also settle five of the state's Indian land claims, including two in Cayuga County. Both the Seneca-Cayugas and the Cayuga Nation, which claim sovereign land-ownership rights in Cayuga and Seneca counties, have reached agreements with the governor's office.
In Cayuga County, the deals have been pushed as a way to settle the land claims. In the Catskills, these projects are being touted as job magnets. For Sullivan County residents like Daniel Linares, who has been on disability since the Concord Hotel shut and he lost his job, the casinos are economic salvation.
"Casinos would bring more prospects to this corner ... there was a lot of life. I think opening three to four more casinos would bring more jobs," Linares said as he stood in Monticello's Last Stop Grocery store, a grungy Brooklyn-style bodega.
As Linares spoke, he looked out from the Last Stop's window at a mixture of shuttered buildings on that block of Broadway, the village of Monticello's main drag. The Gager's Diner, the Broadway Theater, Kaplan's Delicatessen Restaurant are among those which have closed down
Casinos would "get some action going here," said Billy Holder, a caretaker of a hunting and fishing club, during a busy lunch hour at the boxcar Tilly's Diner. "At least if you got them, you could get some revenue in, you know what I mean? The more the merrier, five casinos, why not?"
Other patrons expressed more skepticism.
"I would like the idea of putting in one and seeing how it worked ... if you put five in, then what are we going to do?" said Ed Pajak, a carpenter from Forestburgh.
But no one denies the Sullivan County seat of Monticello is in need of revenue.
Monticello is an urban area in a rural setting, and 40 percent of the village residents live in poverty. One of the casinos would be within the village of Monticello, and three of the others would be located in the larger town of Thompson.
Monticello is home to Sullivan County's only current gaming facility, a racino called Mighty M Gaming at Monticello Raceway, which consists of a long-standing harness racetrack and 1,743 slot machines that opened last June to the public. Mighty M is operated by Empire Resorts Inc., which is partnered with the Seneca-Cayugas on the Concord project and is partnered with the Cayuga Nation to develop a $500 million casino complex at the Mighty M.
Casinos have been touted as the tourism tool to restore Sullivan County's resort status, which it enjoyed up to the 1970s. That's when the Jewish families who perennially vacationed in Sullivan County's grand hotels and bungalows shifted to other vacation spots due to what Sullivan County historian John Conway calls the three As: airplanes, air conditioning, assimilation.
Since those tourists left, Sullivan County has slumped.
But now Indian-owned casinos might finally be arriving in Sullivan County after a decade of effort by casino developers.
"You have to be somewhat of an optimist," said Cliff Ehrlich, the senior vice president of Mighty M Gaming. "Most people think it's going to happen. The question is how soon. It's as close as it's ever been."
The Sullivan County Legislature gave conditional approval to Pataki's legislation this month.
The Cayuga Nation project at the Mighty M would have 3,000 slot machines, 200 gaming tables, an 800-seat buffet, lounges, shopping areas and a nightclub.
The Seneca-Cayugas project at the Concord would include 3,000 slot machines and 200 tables. The currently rotting Concord would likely have to be demolished first, but Empire Resorts executives project the Cayuga's casino could be constructed in 18 months. Empire Resorts has an agreement to purchase the Concord, but the sale won't go through until the requisite state and federal legislative approvals are given.
Final clearance for the projects is still a long way off, Sullivan County attorney Sam Yasgur said. Even if Congress and the state give its approval, court cases involving Indian sovereignty and casino issues remain unresolved, said Yasgur, a colorful former New York City prosecutor who just returned to the area. Yasgur's father owned the farm which hosted Woodstock and Yasgur keeps a remote-controlled backhoe in his office.
The Sullivan County Legislature approved the five casinos by a 6-3 vote, which was split along geographic lines. Legislators representing the east, with its larger population centers, voted for the casinos, while legislators representing the more rural western half of the county voted against the governor's resolution.
But not all business owners believe casinos are the answer. Business owner Diedrick VanHaaften said increased traffic to his Rock Hill scuba shop isn't enough to compensate for larger social costs.
"The state government put a gun to our heads: Five casinos or nothing. It's somewhat appalling to do that to a community." VanHaaften said, doffing a ball cap topped with sunglasses as he sat in Tilly's Diner.
VanHaaften also is worried about traffic that is already backed up during the summer when Sullivan County's population jumps from 75,000 year-round residents to 300,000 summer residents. Summer residents include Hassidic and Orthodox Jews spending the summer in the Catskills, the "snowbirds" returning from wintering in the south and second-home owners from the greater New York area.
An anti-casino group formed last April, Casino-Free Sullivan County, which is also concerned about traffic levels.
"We have a number of people who have summer homes up here and they're not looking forward to finding bumper-to-bumper traffic backed up on the Thruway," said Rosa Lee, the treasurer for the group.
"I think public opinion has migrated over time. I think skepticism has increased and people are less enthralled," said Sullivan County Legislature Chairman Christopher Cunningham, an easygoing 42-year-old who represents towns in the west of the county. Cunningham is skeptical of casinos and voted against Pataki's measure because he felt the county was giving away its negotiating strength.
Cunningham also wants to make sure his county mitigates the negative impacts of casino development with an overarching study of the environmental impact of the five casinos, a seat on the state Racing and Wagering Board, state aid for traffic improvements and an expanded school system that is almost at full capacity.
Todd Alhart, a Pataki spokesman, said that each casino will complete an environmental impact study to comply with state law and that the $50 million fund dedicated for use toward environmental impacts could also be used to mitigate traffic problems.
Concerns about the social costs to people vulnerable to gambling addiction have also been raised by county leaders.
Veronica Uss, the executive director of the Monticello-based Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse of Sullivan County, said adolescents are a big worry for her agency.
"Adolescents are extremely vulnerable where they are in their maturation process. If we are going to be raising children where gambling is the norm ... if we are raising children in that environment, we're increasing their odds of entering gambling very early on in life," Uss said. Uss also said senior citizens, typically on fixed incomes, are also vulnerable.
Empire Resorts' vice president of communications Charles Degliomini dismissed such protesters as "modern-day prohibitionists. We don't ban alcohol consumption either. We believe in very small government protections."
County legislator Ron Hyatt, who approved the casinos and represents a part of the town of Thompson, says there are ways to make sure that allowing casinos doesn't leave Sullivan "subsidizing" problem gamblers going bankrupt and in need of social services. Hyatt, a lawyer in his 50s, wants to exclude casino patrons under the age of 21 as well as problem gamblers.
Hyatt believes there is technology available to track problem and underage gamblers and underage gamblers. Large casinos use slot cards to track patrons' winnings, as well as their personal information.
"It's approaching Big Brother status if they can be that sophisticated, which they are. Then I believe them when they tell me they can exclude anybody," Hyatt said.
Unionized construction workers and business owners slated to benefit from the industry also are rooting for the casinos.
"With more casinos, we could do wholesale for them," said Dominick Daniels, co-owner of Cohen's Bakery located on Monticello's Broadway in a renovated hardware store. Cohen's already wholesales for the Mighty M racetrack.
Jim Barnicle, the Monticello village mayor and owner of an antique gift shop situated on Broadway, said that casinos are only part of the revival that has been happening in recent years in Sullivan County. Big box stores, a booming second-home real estate market following Sept. 11 and a project to develop a performing arts center at the Woodstock concert site are all positive developments.
"Put those with casinos," he said. "It's part of the whole to becoming a resort destination."
Staff writer Amaris Elliott-Engel can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or at amaris.elliot-engel@lee.net
Clinton/Gore 1996 bumper stickers slapped on two nearby road signs leave the sense that one of the premiere destinations of the Catskills' hotel heyday has been shuttered up and left to rot.
The Concord - which once held bragging rights for having the largest dance club in the world - now only has broken windows, decrepit tennis courts and tall, gangly evergreens standing guard and blocking the view. The property deteriorated drastically over the last five years following its bankruptcy in 1998 and sale for $10.25 million in 1999.
But the Concord - along with four other sites in Sullivan County - is being reimagined by casino developers as a casino/hotel/time share/shopping/golfing/entertainment resort.
The Concord could be the site for the Seneca-Cayugas of Oklahoma casino, one of the five casinos proposed for Sullivan County in legislation from Gov. George Pataki. The legislation would also settle five of the state's Indian land claims, including two in Cayuga County. Both the Seneca-Cayugas and the Cayuga Nation, which claim sovereign land-ownership rights in Cayuga and Seneca counties, have reached agreements with the governor's office.
In Cayuga County, the deals have been pushed as a way to settle the land claims. In the Catskills, these projects are being touted as job magnets. For Sullivan County residents like Daniel Linares, who has been on disability since the Concord Hotel shut and he lost his job, the casinos are economic salvation.
"Casinos would bring more prospects to this corner ... there was a lot of life. I think opening three to four more casinos would bring more jobs," Linares said as he stood in Monticello's Last Stop Grocery store, a grungy Brooklyn-style bodega.
As Linares spoke, he looked out from the Last Stop's window at a mixture of shuttered buildings on that block of Broadway, the village of Monticello's main drag. The Gager's Diner, the Broadway Theater, Kaplan's Delicatessen Restaurant are among those which have closed down
Casinos would "get some action going here," said Billy Holder, a caretaker of a hunting and fishing club, during a busy lunch hour at the boxcar Tilly's Diner. "At least if you got them, you could get some revenue in, you know what I mean? The more the merrier, five casinos, why not?"
Other patrons expressed more skepticism.
"I would like the idea of putting in one and seeing how it worked ... if you put five in, then what are we going to do?" said Ed Pajak, a carpenter from Forestburgh.
But no one denies the Sullivan County seat of Monticello is in need of revenue.
Monticello is an urban area in a rural setting, and 40 percent of the village residents live in poverty. One of the casinos would be within the village of Monticello, and three of the others would be located in the larger town of Thompson.
Monticello is home to Sullivan County's only current gaming facility, a racino called Mighty M Gaming at Monticello Raceway, which consists of a long-standing harness racetrack and 1,743 slot machines that opened last June to the public. Mighty M is operated by Empire Resorts Inc., which is partnered with the Seneca-Cayugas on the Concord project and is partnered with the Cayuga Nation to develop a $500 million casino complex at the Mighty M.
Casinos have been touted as the tourism tool to restore Sullivan County's resort status, which it enjoyed up to the 1970s. That's when the Jewish families who perennially vacationed in Sullivan County's grand hotels and bungalows shifted to other vacation spots due to what Sullivan County historian John Conway calls the three As: airplanes, air conditioning, assimilation.
Since those tourists left, Sullivan County has slumped.
But now Indian-owned casinos might finally be arriving in Sullivan County after a decade of effort by casino developers.
"You have to be somewhat of an optimist," said Cliff Ehrlich, the senior vice president of Mighty M Gaming. "Most people think it's going to happen. The question is how soon. It's as close as it's ever been."
The Sullivan County Legislature gave conditional approval to Pataki's legislation this month.
The Cayuga Nation project at the Mighty M would have 3,000 slot machines, 200 gaming tables, an 800-seat buffet, lounges, shopping areas and a nightclub.
The Seneca-Cayugas project at the Concord would include 3,000 slot machines and 200 tables. The currently rotting Concord would likely have to be demolished first, but Empire Resorts executives project the Cayuga's casino could be constructed in 18 months. Empire Resorts has an agreement to purchase the Concord, but the sale won't go through until the requisite state and federal legislative approvals are given.
Final clearance for the projects is still a long way off, Sullivan County attorney Sam Yasgur said. Even if Congress and the state give its approval, court cases involving Indian sovereignty and casino issues remain unresolved, said Yasgur, a colorful former New York City prosecutor who just returned to the area. Yasgur's father owned the farm which hosted Woodstock and Yasgur keeps a remote-controlled backhoe in his office.
The Sullivan County Legislature approved the five casinos by a 6-3 vote, which was split along geographic lines. Legislators representing the east, with its larger population centers, voted for the casinos, while legislators representing the more rural western half of the county voted against the governor's resolution.
But not all business owners believe casinos are the answer. Business owner Diedrick VanHaaften said increased traffic to his Rock Hill scuba shop isn't enough to compensate for larger social costs.
"The state government put a gun to our heads: Five casinos or nothing. It's somewhat appalling to do that to a community." VanHaaften said, doffing a ball cap topped with sunglasses as he sat in Tilly's Diner.
VanHaaften also is worried about traffic that is already backed up during the summer when Sullivan County's population jumps from 75,000 year-round residents to 300,000 summer residents. Summer residents include Hassidic and Orthodox Jews spending the summer in the Catskills, the "snowbirds" returning from wintering in the south and second-home owners from the greater New York area.
An anti-casino group formed last April, Casino-Free Sullivan County, which is also concerned about traffic levels.
"We have a number of people who have summer homes up here and they're not looking forward to finding bumper-to-bumper traffic backed up on the Thruway," said Rosa Lee, the treasurer for the group.
"I think public opinion has migrated over time. I think skepticism has increased and people are less enthralled," said Sullivan County Legislature Chairman Christopher Cunningham, an easygoing 42-year-old who represents towns in the west of the county. Cunningham is skeptical of casinos and voted against Pataki's measure because he felt the county was giving away its negotiating strength.
Cunningham also wants to make sure his county mitigates the negative impacts of casino development with an overarching study of the environmental impact of the five casinos, a seat on the state Racing and Wagering Board, state aid for traffic improvements and an expanded school system that is almost at full capacity.
Todd Alhart, a Pataki spokesman, said that each casino will complete an environmental impact study to comply with state law and that the $50 million fund dedicated for use toward environmental impacts could also be used to mitigate traffic problems.
Concerns about the social costs to people vulnerable to gambling addiction have also been raised by county leaders.
Veronica Uss, the executive director of the Monticello-based Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse of Sullivan County, said adolescents are a big worry for her agency.
"Adolescents are extremely vulnerable where they are in their maturation process. If we are going to be raising children where gambling is the norm ... if we are raising children in that environment, we're increasing their odds of entering gambling very early on in life," Uss said. Uss also said senior citizens, typically on fixed incomes, are also vulnerable.
Empire Resorts' vice president of communications Charles Degliomini dismissed such protesters as "modern-day prohibitionists. We don't ban alcohol consumption either. We believe in very small government protections."
County legislator Ron Hyatt, who approved the casinos and represents a part of the town of Thompson, says there are ways to make sure that allowing casinos doesn't leave Sullivan "subsidizing" problem gamblers going bankrupt and in need of social services. Hyatt, a lawyer in his 50s, wants to exclude casino patrons under the age of 21 as well as problem gamblers.
Hyatt believes there is technology available to track problem and underage gamblers and underage gamblers. Large casinos use slot cards to track patrons' winnings, as well as their personal information.
"It's approaching Big Brother status if they can be that sophisticated, which they are. Then I believe them when they tell me they can exclude anybody," Hyatt said.
Unionized construction workers and business owners slated to benefit from the industry also are rooting for the casinos.
"With more casinos, we could do wholesale for them," said Dominick Daniels, co-owner of Cohen's Bakery located on Monticello's Broadway in a renovated hardware store. Cohen's already wholesales for the Mighty M racetrack.
Jim Barnicle, the Monticello village mayor and owner of an antique gift shop situated on Broadway, said that casinos are only part of the revival that has been happening in recent years in Sullivan County. Big box stores, a booming second-home real estate market following Sept. 11 and a project to develop a performing arts center at the Woodstock concert site are all positive developments.
"Put those with casinos," he said. "It's part of the whole to becoming a resort destination."
Staff writer Amaris Elliott-Engel can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or at amaris.elliot-engel@lee.net
