Buffalo casino ‘illegality’ raises question of how law applies to Falls counterpart
One is a makeshift casino, the other a $450 million gambling center with 4,200 slot machines, seven restaurants and a 26-story hotel.
Both were plopped down on sovereign territory in struggling cities using the same federal guidelines.
So if a U. S. district judge ruled last week that the Seneca Nation of Indians cannot use its footprint in Buffalo for gambling, what about Niagara Falls?
“The illegality is the same, but an illegal act isn’t a problem unless someone challenges it. Right now, no one’s challenging it,” said Joel S. Rose, who spearheaded the court victory in Buffalo. “If people in Niagara County who don’t want a casino see what’s happening in Buffalo, who’s to say what could happen?”
It’s too early to tell whether last week’s federal court ruling will put an end to the Seneca plan for a $333 million casino complex in Buffalo, but those involved in the case highly doubt the decision will bring gambling to a halt in Niagara Falls.
In fact, one leading local economist predicted that the Seneca’s setback in Buffalo will even spur their development in the Cataract City.
While keeping future plans in Niagara Falls under wraps, the Senecas have hinted at building more hotel rooms and an entertainment venue. They have held off for more than a half-year in making the specifics of their plans known.
“I think the Buffalo decision will encourage them to expand their operations in Niagara Falls,” said David M. Nemi, professor of marketing at Niagara County Community College.
Nemi said that it could put the Falls effort on a faster track.
If the legal defeat has the Senecas rethinking plans for a major expansion in the Falls, they weren’t showing their hand last week.
Seneca Gaming Corp. will continue to develop plans to build out the undeveloped 24 acres of the 48- acre Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel footprint in the Falls regardless of conditions in Buffalo, said spokesman Philip J. Pantano.
“In terms of our future planning, we look at what will make business sense at each property, what will impact our patrons in a favorable way at each property,” Pantano said.
A legal challenge in Niagara Falls is possible, if someone has the inclination — and the money. The Buffalo lawsuit, for instance, has cost about $2 million so far, and legal appeals are just getting started.
And the likelihood of prevailing in court doesn’t appear great.
In fact, U. S. District Judge William M. Skretny noted in a ruling last year that he was “well aware” that the Seneca Nation was conducting gambling operations on land that was likely purchased in the same manner as the Buffalo parcel.
But he specifically limited that decision to the Buffalo site.
Skretny’s ruling, banning gambling on the Buffalo site, stated that because the parcel was purchased with proceeds from the Seneca Nation Settlement Act, it did not meet an exception for an off-reservation casino. Seneca Nation land in Niagara Falls also was purchased with the same proceeds, but the suit filed by casino opponents in Buffalo focuses solely on the legality of the Buffalo land.
“On all other sites,” Skretny also noted, “gaming already is a reality.”
Despite Skretny’s ruling, gambling continues and more construction is under way in Buffalo. A second hotel tower also is going up at the Seneca Allegany Casino in Salamanca.
The Falls casino-hotel already features 147,000 square feet of gambling space. The company recently completed demolition of a water park, hotel and former Pizza Hut as part of its expansion plans. Casino executives have said since late last year that they expected to make those plans public by this past January or February, but the months passed with no announcement.
“There’s no impact from the recent court decision on our master planning process and what we’re doing to prepare for future development in Niagara Falls,” Pantano said. “That process is still ongoing, but as we’ve always said, the Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel is our flagship hotel and always will be. We’re very proud of what we’ve created so far.”
Eight million gamblers used the Seneca Niagara Casino last year, Pantano said, compared with 3.3 million at the Seneca Allegheny Casino and more than 400,000 in the temporary Buffalo casino, which opened last July.
Cornelius D. Murray, a lawyer for the anti-casino group, declined to speculate on the potential for a challenge to the Seneca Nation’s Niagara Falls operations but said the late timing of such a suit could affect its effectiveness.
“For somebody to now, several years after the fact, try to make the argument in Niagara Falls, where the proverbial horse is out of the barn, is an entirely different situation,” Murray said.
Rose, a lead plaintiff in the Buffalo suit and co-chairman of Citizens Against Casino Gambling in Erie County, agreed.
“A similar suit in Niagara County at this point would probably not fare as well because it would not be timely,” Rose said. “We filed this suit at the very earliest time, so the Senecas were on notice right from the get-go that the approval process was going to be challenged and they took that risk.”
djgee@buffnews.com and bmichelmore@buffnews.com
