Required Approvals - Entitlements & Community Advisory Committees

Applicants were required to complete all entitlement processes (land-use/zoning, State Environmental Quality Review Act, etc.) before September 30, 2025.  

Such entitlements include:

Land-Use/Zoning: 

All applicants were required to complete the local land-use/zoning process in order to be eligible for consideration by the Board.

The City of New York amended its zoning code to allow licensed commercial casino gambling as a permitted use by right. However, some potential City-based applicants were required to undergo the Universal Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) due to specific requirements not covered by the amendment, including mapping changes, grading or revocable consent to construct over streets.

For proposals outside the City of New York, each potential applicant was required to navigate their host municipality’s land-use procedures, thus ensuring another level of local review and approval.

Environmental Reviews: 

All Applicants were required to be substantially complete with the State (and/or City) Environmental Quality Review Act, or SEQR, process before submitting an application. SEQR process is lengthy, with the purpose to identify any potential adverse environmental effects of proposed actions, assesses their significance, and propose measures to eliminate or mitigate significant impacts. 

For each application submitted, a Community Advisory Committee (CAC) was created to review the application, gauge local support, and ultimately issue a finding determining whether there is adequate support for the proposed project. This affirmative finding is a requirement for the application to be considered by the GFLB.

CACs held public hearings and were subject to the New York State Open Meetings Law.

Guidance Regarding the Establishment, Operation and Conduct of Community Advisory Committees 

Each CAC:

• Elected a Chair at its first meeting
• Solicited and reviewed public comments (written, electronic, oral, etc.)
• Held public meetings

Ultimately, each CAC was required to hold a vote – with a two-thirds threshold – to establish public support approving or disapproving the application.

The GFLB is considering only those applications that are approved by a two-thirds threshold of the applicable CAC.

The membership of each Community Advisory Committee depends on the proposed site location, with members being appointed by applicable elected officials:

Within New York City (6 members):

• NYS Governor
• NYC Mayor
• Applicable NYS Senator
• Applicable NYS Assemblymember
• Applicable Borough President
• Applicable City Councilmember

Outside NYC (5 members):

• NYS Governor
• Applicable County Executive
• Applicable NYS Senator
• Applicable NYS Assemblymember
• Applicable locality’s senior elected official:
  • City: Mayor
  • Town: Town Supervisor
  • Village: Jointly by the Village Mayor and the Town Supervisor