How New York's deck of counties split on the casino vote
Red = counties in which a majority voted "yes." Black = counties in which a majority voted "no." (Corrected.)
One of the items up for a vote Tuesday was a proposed New York State constitutional amendment that would allow up to seven full casinos around the state, starting upstate. The Cuomo admin has been pushing the idea as economic development, and framed it that way again after the vote. [NYS BOE] [NYT] [Cuomo admin]
The amendment was approved, 57-43. But support around the state was evenly distributed. In fact, majorities in three of the Capital Region's four core counties voted against it -- one of the majority "no" counties was Saratoga, which has a good chance of ending up with a casino. [NYS BOE]
We pulled the unofficial vote tallies on the casino amendment and mapped the results by county. Two clickable maps are after the jump.
A few things to keep in mind when looking at the maps:
+ Because of legislation passed this past summer, the initial batch of casinos is limited to four in three regions: the Hudson Valley-Catskill area, the Capital District-Saratoga area, and the Central-Southern Tier.
+ The Cuomo admin also worked out a deal with the Seneca nation in western New York to keep new casinos out of that area in return for the Senecas paying the state and local municipalities there based on revenue from the nation's three already-existing casinos.
Maps are in large format above -- click or scroll all the way up.
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Comments
So if Saratoga County majority voted No shouldnt they be in Red on the map?
... said J. Welf on Nov 6, 2013 at 10:28 AM | link
Looks like you flipped Saratoga and Rent'ler counties?
... said J. Welf on Nov 6, 2013 at 10:30 AM | link
@J. Welf: Thanks for the heads up. I had just the colors backward in the legends for the maps. Black = majority no. Red = majority yes. It's corrected now.
(Incidentally, this is probably why I should never play roulette.)
... said Greg on Nov 6, 2013 at 10:33 AM | link
God i love roulette.. I HAVE A SYSTEM haha.
... said J. Welf on Nov 6, 2013 at 10:50 AM | link
Funny how the people who won't be living near the casino voted for it. Then again, I voted against expanding mining into Adirondack Park and I don't live there.
So, folks, we've just won a casino that the majority of us don't want. I grew up in an area that introduced Riverboat gambling on the Mississippi River in the early 90's and we were promised a boom and all we got were hookers and gambling addiction. That's not fair - we did get some revenue for schools, which is great.
I guess if we're getting it no matter what, let's make the best of it. There's a crapton of money in gambling (just look at what the lobbyists paid our elected officials leading up to this), so why don't we get those folks (the mob or whoever it is) to foot the bill to tear down our big ugly blighted building off 787 (you know the one that's been discussed here repeatedly) and turn it into our Albany attraction. It would have easy Interstate access, not really be in the backyards of too many folks, would encourage a better way to get from the Amtrak station to downtown Albany, etc. Just a thought.
... said Valerae on Nov 6, 2013 at 11:16 AM | link
It may be a stretch to say this - but the counties where the majority vote was 'No' may have a greater percentage of people with college degrees among those who voted on Proposition 1 yesterday.
... said Kevin K. on Nov 6, 2013 at 11:33 AM | link
Apparently I was among the minority who voted "NO!" in RensCo.
To me, attempting to raise revenue for the state through gambling is like a snake eating its own tail. But I'm not talking about some mystical Ouroboros... I'm talking about a literal snake, literally eating its own tail.
... said Duncan Crary on Nov 6, 2013 at 11:41 AM | link
I would assume that some of the less well off counties in southern tier and upstate voted yes for jobs and school revenue reasons.
And good call about the mining prop 5 - i wonder how that shakes out in county form.
... said J.Welf on Nov 6, 2013 at 12:23 PM | link
It's ridiculous to have to have a state constitutional amendment to allow a business to exist. Why should a casino be any different than a ski resort or mall? Regulate the environmental and traffic impact, and let supply and demand dictate success or failure of the venture, but don't deny the opportunity for casinos based on the element of gambling.
... said apk on Nov 6, 2013 at 12:47 PM | link
So sine we were the only county to support it, can Rensselaer County get the Capital District's casino? I would love to have my school and medicare taxes reduced any way shape or form.
... said apk on Nov 6, 2013 at 12:49 PM | link
Ski resorts and malls don't have the same impacts that casinos do. This is not about the environment and traffic, it's about how the casinos will impact the communities and public health and services. Reducing your Medicare taxes sounds great until you have a marked increase in gambling addicts, health issues, and drug and other crime cases that often come with the package. The actual economic benefits are also questionable; casinos can act like a regressive tax, especially if patrons are not from outside the area but employees are, ultimately eroding the tax base you're so worried about even further. The fact is, we don't yet know where the cash will come from and where it will go to. What's ridiculous is allowing some snake oil salesman to put up shop in your town with the promise of free money.
There's a right way and a wrong way to do this, which is why the public has to be involved and we need a tight leash. Don't forget that the house always wins.
... said B on Nov 6, 2013 at 2:07 PM | link
There's a casino in Montreal and seems to be working out just fine for them. People can leave and gamble and another state benefits or they can stay and gamble and we benefit, it's that easy. If we were voting on the first casino in the northeast, that would be a different story.
... said Parma Ham on Nov 6, 2013 at 10:03 PM | link
So Albany stands to get $2,725,425 towards property tax and schools - isn't that like 1% of the budget? Woofreakinhoo. Really nice that this was released AFTER the people voted. It's so slimy and doesn't feel at all like democracy.
http://www.governor.ny.gov/press/11062013-fiscal-and-economic-impact-of-gaming-in-broome-county
... said Valerae on Nov 7, 2013 at 9:24 AM | link
I have *every* confidence in the world that if casinos ultimately get built, the money they generate will for SURE be put to use lowering NY state residents' tax burden.
Yep, I'm sure that will happen....
... said Rebecca on Nov 7, 2013 at 12:47 PM | link
Just a nitpick, but when you're showing yes/no data in a graphic like this, it would be a lot more intuitive to have had the no be red and the yes be, say, green. But very interesting nonetheless, thanks for putting it together.
... said K on Nov 7, 2013 at 7:05 PM | link
You've gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em! We're going to learn SOON , anyway!
... said mg on Nov 7, 2013 at 10:31 PM | link
Like always, people focus on the symptom and not the system. Gambling isn't the issue. Neither are taxes. Schools? Nope. The root of the problem is that we've created a system, a way of living, that isn't working as we thought it would. The problem AND the solution, comes from us, our values. Esoteric? Maybe. But if the people want a new way of living (low taxes, properly educated and funded schools, etc.) then they will have to change the way they think. Continue to think the same, and you will continue to experience the same. The symptom may be covered up a bit, but another will always arise.
... said Ryan Naylor on Nov 8, 2013 at 8:09 PM | link