Gambling in Queens
by Yessenia Gutierrez-Symby
Resort World Casino – which sits at the intersection of Rockaway Boulevard and Aqueduct Road in the South Ozone Park section of Queens – is nearly as large the southern portion of Central Park from Central Park South to West 73rd Street.
And its massive presence has not gone unnoticed by the neighborhood since it opened a year ago.
For the residents of South Ozone Park — many of them immigrants from the west Caribbean and south Asia — the arrival of the casino has been a mixed blessing with some people embracing the jobs it brings to the area and others put off by the crowds and fears that crime will rise.
Residents say they see busloads of visitors arriving at the casino and an increase in traffic on Rockaway Boulevard at all times of the day and evening. Parents are concerned about heavy traffic near a public school on the boulevard.
Among the residents welcoming of the casino is 29-year-old Sadrac Derival, a welder, whose cousin from Haiti recently joined him in New York. His cousin, Louis Pluvious, does not speak much English, but Sadrac Derival hoped to help him find a minimum wage job at the casino while he attends English as a Second Language courses at York College.
“My cousin wanted to come to New York for a better opportunity and help his family back home, but when the earthquake happened his plans were put on hold,” Sadrac Derival said. “Life isn’t getting any better in Haiti. When the casino opened we waited to see if it was going to last its first year. It did.”
His cousin now works as a security guard at the casino.
Other residents in the South Ozone Park are not happy to have a place that advertises drinking, partying, and gambling close to home. Jean Bernard, a 30-year-old security guard at Jamaica Hospital, lives a few feet away from one of the drop off/pick up locations of the casino shuttle where people can take the subway at Archer Avenue.
Bernard works late nights and often hears fighting and bottle throwing. He is the father of an 8-year-old boy, two girls, ages 5 and 2 year old girls. The two oldest attend the neighborhood school of PS 108. Bernard is concerned that the casino will attract drunk gamblers and bring violence to the neighborhood.
“Like many of my neighbors I was glad that the revenue would bring attention to our neighborhood, but at what cost. It is great that more jobs would be offered to those with minimal education. Are we to succumb to the rudeness and inconsiderate behavior that some casino visitors have during the early hours of the day?” he said. “I have a daughter that I keep a careful eye on because you just never know who has real good intentions anymore.”
The Queens casino brought gambling into the city limits. Instead of traveling three hours to Atlantic City or 90 minutes to Yonkers, New York gamblers can now travel by subway, catching a shuttle bus at Sutphin Boulevard and Archer Avenue. The casino has 5,000 video lottery terminals currently in operation. Included among those 5,000 terminals will be popular casino games (in automated form) blackjack, baccarat, roulette, craps and sic bo, an Asian dice game similar to craps, according to an article in The New York Daily News.
The casino will bring revenue not only to Queens, but to New York as a whole. Attempts to reach a representative at the casino went unanswered.
Resort World Casino is based on the Aqueduct Racetrack, also known as the Big A is a horse racing facility and racino.
Plans to expand the casino to add a convention center are still under way. Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed ideas in January 2012 to replace the Jacob Javit Center with a convention center to be the largest in the county will include hotels, restaurants, and more gambling space.
“At the end of the day I know that the casino is not only bringing revenue to New York, but employment opportunities,” said Derival. “I can log on to the casino’s website and apply for a handful of jobs I know I probably qualify for out of dozens of positions posted. In this tough economy all we need is a little hope.”
All photos are courtesy of the NYDailynews