New Yorkers, you may want to hold your bets.

A new proposed timeline from the state Gaming Commission is potentially pushing back the issuing of new gaming licenses for many, many months.

What You Need To Know

  • About 11 casino companies and real estate developers are looking to win one of three casino licenses issued by the state

  • The process has already gone on for years

  • The state Gaming Commission suggested pushing out the application process even more on Monday to 2025

“All of which would find a convergence of the zoning approvals, CAC considerations and environmental review completion by late summer 2025, allowing for a Gaming Facility Location Board decision in late 2025 resulting in a commission license consideration before the end of 2025,” Robert Williams, executive director for the Gaming Commission, said.

Under the new proposed timeline, licenses for new full-fledged casinos in the downstate region would possibly not be issued until the end of 2025.

The new timeline was revealed at a state commission meeting on Monday.

“Am I happy about it? No I am not,” said Commission Chairman Brian O’Dwyer. “I wish we could streamline it a little bit. But we have to, as they say, play the cards we were dealt with.”

Many casino applicants expected applications to be due sometime this summer — and even that was later than initially thought.

The change will have to be approved by the Gaming Facility Location Board, an offshoot of the commission, which will make the final decision on these licenses.

The board said the delay was necessary to make sure all the applications could get through required environmental reviews. But officials also said, four applicants need an additional land use review process, and officials want to accommodate the lengthy process for that.

Those applicants include a casino project on Coney Island, a possible casino at the Bally’s golf course in the Bronx, a casino near CitiField, pushed by Mets owner Steve Cohen, and another potential project in Hudson Yards by Related Companies and Wynn.

“It’s important the Gaming Facility Location Board get the maximum number of applicants,” O’Dwyer said. “And if we’re talking about, it’s been so long now. If we’re talking about another five or six months and potentially disqualifying reasonable, serious applicants, I think it’s worth taking that time to do it.”