State will keep inspectors at Buffalo casino despite judge's ruling
Decision supports gambling, foes say
ALBANY — New York State will not remove its inspectors from the Seneca Nation’s temporary casino in Buffalo, state officials say, even though a federal judge ruled last week that the casino is operating illegally.
The Paterson administration’s decision angered the attorney for the anti-casino group that won the judgment by U. S. District Judge William Skretny.
“They’re furthering an illegal operation,” Albany attorney Cornelius Murray said of the state’s decision. “It’s illegal for the state to aid and abet an illegal gambling operation, so if they are in there, they’d be aiding and abetting a criminal activity.”
This is not the first time the state has kept inspectors in place at a casino deemed to be illegal by a court.
Another judge declared that the Oneida Nation’s Turning Stone casino also has been operating illegally, and the state did not remove the inspectors or state troopers who are based at the Central New York facility. That case is still on appeal.
Murray imposed a deadline Thursday for the U. S. Attorney’s office to say what action it would take to enforce Skretny’s order. After failing to hear from the office, Murray is considering the anti-casino group’s next legal option.
“We’re not going to let this turn into a Turning Stone by default,” Murray said of the successful lawsuit against Turning Stone that failed to close down that operation.
Under the terms of a compact between Albany and the Seneca Nation, the state Racing and Wagering Board places inspectors at all of the tribe’s casinos, including the temporary facility that was opened while a permanent gambling hall and hotel are constructed on nine acres of land off Michigan Avenue.
The state maintains a 24-hour presence at the Buffalo casino, according to a wagering board spokesman. Inspectors watch over dealers to ensure the terms of a compact with the state are followed, review surveillance videotapes and conduct investigations and interviews with patrons and staff.
Anti-casino forces say the state, by keeping the inspectors at the Buffalo casino, is aiding the Senecas in pursuing their plan to keep the temporary casino open and proceed with construction of the new facility despite the judge’s ruling.
Risa Heller, a spokeswoman for Gov. David A. Paterson, defended the decision.
She said the judge did not issue a “cease and desist” order that would have called for the temporary casino to immediately shut down.
Heller added that the next step is in the hands of the National Indian Gaming Commission, which OK’d the casino in 2007.
“Until we have some definitive action from the NIGC, the entity with oversight here, it would be unsafe to pull our gambling inspectors and public safety personnel from an operational casino,” Heller said.
The state Racing and Wagering Board has five inspectors assigned to the Seneca’s Buffalo casino. It also has 12 inspectors at the Seneca casinos in Niagara Falls and Salamanca, and 10 officials at its Schenectady headquarters who are involved in oversight of the state’s five operating Indian casinos.
Because the Buffalo casino remains open, the wagering board said it intends to keep its workers in place there to ensure the facility is run by the terms of the casino compact between the state and Seneca Nation.
“There has been no judicial order closing the facility or ordering state personnel out,” said Daniel Toomey, a spokesman for the agency.
While Murray said he understands the state’s response because of its desire to ensure that the compact’s terms are followed, Albany should be taking a different path.
“They should be telling the NIGC that, because of concerns about furthering an illegal enterprise, that we are withdrawing our personnel — and we are not going to be participants in an illegal enterprise,” said Murray, the counsel for the anti-casino group Citizens for a Better Buffalo.
In addition to the state Racing and Wagering Board inspectors, State Police provide coverage at the Seneca’s Niagara Falls casino but not at the Buffalo gambling hall. The Buffalo Police Department has a contract with the Seneca Nation to provide officers at the downtown facility, and Mayor Byron W. Brown is a supporter of the Seneca casino in Buffalo.
Attorneys for the Senecas were in Washington Friday, meeting with lawyers for the Justice and Interior departments to try to figure out the next step in the matter, according to Seneca sources.
