During a press conference on Tuesday, Mayor Bloomberg expressed his support for Governor Cuomo's plans to possibly legalize casino gambling in New York. Bloomberg's support, of course, depends on the Big Apple being dealt a fair hand.
Bloomberg, who once stated that gambling had "regressive" effects, discussed the potential revenue benefits a casino could bring:
"The governor has the problem of trying to come up with ways to provide the services that people want and are getting harder and harder to afford - and whatever he decides to do, we'll be supporting him...I just want to make sure that if there is gambling, some of those revenues come to New York City. We need the revenues as well, just like every other part of the state."
In a previous interview with The Daily News, Cuomo mentioned Buffalo and Albany as two other possible locations for casinos.
Bloomberg's support comes after the opening of the Resorts World Casino in Queens in October, which marked the end to nearly a decade's worth of delays and debates over whether a "racino," which has no human dealers, violated state laws.
Despite the lack of table games, the racino reportedly generates $1.5 million a day for the state and hits its 5,000 person capacity by mid-day.
Recent polls aligned with Cuomo's belief that a city casino would bolster the struggling economy.