Opponents of Detroiters' Belmont Casino Plans Using Facebook

Long Island citizen activists have organized to fight plans by Detroiters Michael J. Malik, Sr. and Marian Ilitch to develop a casino & entertainment complex using the Shinnecock Indian Nation at the Belmont Racetrack on Long Island.  To support their efforts, opponents of the Belmont Casino have developed a facebook page.  Click the graphic below to "Like" the page and stay informed.

Also visit: StopTheBelmontCasino.com

Vision for Bay Mills' Vanderbilt Casino

The Bay Mills Indian Community took a gamble and opened a very small casino in Vanderbilt (MI) last November (2010).  Shortly after opening the facility with 38 slot machines, the tribe began expansion of the facility.  After closing for a couple of days in early 2011 they opened a facility twice its original size.  The tribe followed a Court directive in March and closed its doors.

Should the tribe prevail in current court action and be allowed to re-open its Vanderbilt gambling site, the graphic below gives one an idea of what the next phase of their plans might look like.

This graphic was given to Vanderbilt village leaders

Bay Mills Indian Community Presenting Casino Plans to Flint Township Board Oct.3

Bay Mills Indian Community to present new casino plans

9.22.2011

BY RHONDA S. SANDERS

810-452-2665 rsanders@mihomepaper.com

FLINT TWP. — Perhaps the Bay Mills Indian Community will build a casino on their 28-acre property at Dutcher and Lennon Roads after all.

Bay Mills representatives are scheduled to make a presentation to the township Board of Trustees at its Oct. 3 meeting about what it proposes to do with the undeveloped land, said Karyn Miller, township supervisor at this week’s board meeting.

After the meeting, Miller said she did not have any further information about the content of Bay Mills’ presentation. She said as far as she knows Bay Mills has not resolved legal issues that have thwarted development of its property in the township and elsewhere.

A casino Bay Mills owns in Vanderbilt was ordered closed in March by a federal judge pending the outcome of a lawsuit filed by the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians and the State of Michigan challenging the legality of the land purchase which bypassed normal channels.

Bay Mills has a tribal compact with the State of Michigan allowing it to operate Class III gaming facilities on Indian land. Its interpretation of that agreement is any property purchased with Indian funding becomes Indian land. Therefore the Vanderbilt casino was established legally according to laws governing Indian-owned property.

The state disagrees and its assertions so far have been upheld in court.

Bay Mills opened the Vanderbilt casino in November fueling speculation about similar plans for properties its owns in Port Huron and Flint Township. Development for the latter were assumed to be tied to the outcome of the Vanderbilt legal challenge.

But the tribe lost a second federal court appeal at the end of June seeking to overturn the judge’s decision and reopen the Vanderbilt casino, according to a June 30 report by the Port Huron Times Herald.

Bays Mils reportedly filed suit against the state of Michigan on July 15 in the Western District Court of Michigan, naming Gov. Rick Snyder as the defendant, according to a report in the Bay Mills News, a monthly publication owned and operated Bay Mills Indian Community.

The News reported that “Snyder is being sued in his official capacity as chief executive officer of the state for trying to apply Michigan law to Bay Mills Indian Community’s Vanderbilt Casino.”

Bay Mills lawsuit intends to show that Snyder, as well as the State of Michigan, has no jurisdiction over federally recognized Indian tribes on Indian lands, according to the report.

In an April interview with The Times Herald, Jeffrey Parker, chairman of the Bay Mills executive board, reportedly said he expected to open a casino in Port Huron in 2012, despite ongoing legal setbacks. He told the Port Huron reporter that local support is required to open a casino.

Parker did not respond to requests for comment.

Dutcher Rd @ Lennon Rd., Flint Township, MI

View Larger Map

Blogger's Note:  For nearly two decades Detroit casino syndicator Michael Malik (Blue Water Resorts), with support from his business partner Marian Ilitch, has been pushing development of a  Bay Mills Indian Community casino in Port Huron, MI.  The tribe's reservation is in Brimley, MI. They've spent millions lobbying elected officials and agencies at the local, state and federal level.

Shinnecock and Ilitch affiliate Gateway Casino Resorts paid $1.5 million to New York Lobbyists

Backers of various proposals to build Native American casinos on Long Island, NY, including a casino complex adjacent to Belmont Park Race Track, have paid New York state lobbyists more than $1.5 million since 2005.  The Shinnecock Indian Nation bankrolled by its partners, the people behind a Detroit-based syndication known as Gateway Casino Resorts, have funneled a total of $1,502,280 to these four lobbying firms:

Lobbying Firm	Total Fees Paid
Mercury (fka IGR Group, fka FHGR, fka Mercury Public Affairs, LLC)	$1,234,780
Brian R. Meara + Meara Avela Dickinson	$240,000
Meyer Suozzi English & Klein, PC	$20,000
Park Strategies, LLC	$7,500
TOTAL LOBBYING FEES PAID	$1,502,280

More than 80% of the lobbying fees paid by the Shinnecock Indian Nation/Gateway Casino Resorts have gone to Mercury Public Affairs which has also been known as IGR Group and FHGR (Fleishman Hillard Government Relations). Mercury lobbyists representing the casino interests have included Peter Barden, Thomas Doherty, Kieran Mahoney, Michael McKeon and Mark Streb. Doherty, Mahoney and McKeon had ties to former Governor George Pataki.  McKeon was executive director of Republicans for Cuomo helping New York Governor Andrew Cuomo win his 2010 election.

The latest edition to the Shinnecock/Gateway stable of lobbying firms is Park Strategies, LLC.  That firm was founded by former U.S. Senator (NY) Alfonse D'Amoto.  Among the lobbyists registered to support the expansion of casinos on Long Island is Anthony Cancellieri, former Chief Deputy County Executive of Nassau County.  Belmont Park Race Track, one of the preferred locations for a Shinnecock/Gateway casino development, is located in Nassau County, NY.

During 2011, The Shinnecock Indians and Gateway Casino Resorts had monthly retainer agreements with four New York lobbying firms as follows:

2011 Monthly Retainers
Lobbying Firm	Retainer Amount
Mercury	$10,000
Meara Avela Dickinson	$10,000
Meyer Suozzi English & Klein, PC	$10,000
Park  Strategies, LLC	$15,000

Source: records available at nyintegrity.org

See also:

• Ilitch affiliate retains former U.S. Senator Alfonse D'Amato's lobbying firm to push New York Casino plans for Shinnecock
• D.C. Lobbyists Paid $2.33 Million to Advance Shinnecock Casinos
• Shinnecock Casino Backers have dropped $117,500 on top-ranking NY Politicians
• Scandal Continues to Plague Political and Lobbying Activities of Detroiters Bankrolling Shinnecock Casino Plans
• Michael Malik: The Latest Life & Times of a Detroit Casino Syndicator

Shinnecocks or not: New York, NYRA Would be Wise to Include Neighbors in Planning for Future of Belmont Park

Mayor Thomas J. Tweedy
Floral Park, New York

MAYOR'S MESSAGE
9.15.2011

Mayor’s Message Village of Floral Park: September 15, 2011

We continue to again discuss our 2007 Belmont Task Force Statement of Principles. These principles are based on fairness and equity.  Recent press releases regarding NYRA’s Saratoga Race Course and that NYRA property’s development makes our seventh principle, being a good neighbor to your neighbors more timely than ever before. 

Be a Good Neighbor to Your Neighbors

VII. The neighboring communities that have existed in peaceful co-existence with these facilities for decades should have their right to the quiet enjoyment of their neighborhoods respected and continued to be maintained.  Those areas that are natural park-like settings must continue to be maintained.  There must be a comprehensive facilities management plan addressing both modernization and preservation plans and must include design guidelines, based upon generally acceptable community standards, to be used in the development of individual capital and maintenance projects.  Any proposed material change in the nature or time of operations at the facilities must be fully disclosed and reviewed with the neighboring communities prior to such a change.

Belmont Park and its surrounding communities have peacefully coexisted as neighbors for many years. Floral Park residents from Poppy Place to Plainfield Avenue, and all the streets in between, share the longest uninterrupted residential border with Belmont Park. Many Floral Park residents‘ homes are just a short distance from the active areas of Belmont Park. Such as the various tracks and service roads used throughout the year, as well as the parking fields, which recently have been allowed to become a makeshift tractor trailer feed station and a dumpster storage repository next to our school children’s play yard behind the Floral Park-Bellerose School.  While most of Elmont’s border with Belmont Park is buffered by up to six lanes plus sidewalks and turning lanes on Hempstead Turnpike or are next to an occasionally used parking area, many Floral Park residents can literally hear the galloping of horses and the vocal calls of the jockeys every morning on the practice tracks or on the main track during race days.  Therefore maintaining a sufficient buffer zone near neighboring homes and schools is something the State of New York cannot delegate to someone else, be it the current tenant NYRA, or even the proposed Shinnecock casino operations.  Whether it is an attractive natural buffer or a series of football, baseball or even soccer fields, a sufficient buffer zone needs to be incorporated in any planned changes at Belmont Park.

Ironically, just this month in Saratoga, NYRA announced a menu of 21 potential capital improvement projects for its Saratoga Race Course “designed to secure the historic nature of the race track while enhancing the facilities and overall fan experience” according to NYRA’s Sept. 1 press release. {See: http://www.nyra.com/saratoga/stories/Sep012011b.shtml#}. NYRA notes that the various Saratoga projects “will be open for public comment and feedback from the community in order to assess priority and implementation” over the next 5 to 10 years. NYRA President and CEO Charles Haywood has stated that “NYRA is deeply committed to preserving the historic fabric of Saratoga Race Course while implementing a capital improvement strategy that will allow Saratoga to grow and flourish for years to come.” The funding for the capital improvement projects will come from NYRA’s 4 percent share of revenues from the 4500 VLT machines and 500 electronic gaming tables being installed at Aqueduct Racetrack, which is estimated will provide NYRA about $27.6 million annually, which is more than Floral Park’s entire annual budget this year!  Imagine if gambling at Belmont Park could provide Floral Park’s taxpayers with a comparable amount of what NYRA and its thoroughbred horse owners are already in line to get from VLT machines at Aqueduct!

Why Belmont Park, which is home to NYRA’s jewel of the Triple Crown, is getting distant third place treatment after Saratoga or even Aqueduct is outrageous!  While NYRA is willing to solicit community feedback on its ambitious plans at Saratoga while NYRA and the State of New York all but ignore its Belmont Park neighbors is unbelievable! Floral Park has put its cards on the table with its Statements of Principles since 2007, it seems that NYRA and the State of New York pay more attention to those in Saratoga or even the Shinnecock reservation in Southampton than they do about Belmont Park’s neighbors right here in western Nassau County. NYRA’s announcement seeking public comment and feedback to determine the next steps in Saratoga should be a blueprint to do the same at Belmont Park, with or without the involvement of the Shinnecock Indian Nation!  The first thing that must change at Belmont Park, however, is the need for those in Albany to warmly bring Belmont Park’s neighbors with them into the winner’s circle instead of leaving them out in the cold back in the starting gate.

Blogger's NOTE: The Shinnecock Indians propose to build and operate a hotel, casino and new train station at Belmont Park & Race Track on Long Island and various other locations on Long Island (NY). Gateway Casino Resorts, an entity organized by Detroiters Michael J. Malik, Sr., and Mrs. Marian Ilitch, has been out front bankrolling the Tribe's various failed casino development proposals for nearly decade and are behind this latest scheme.

Google map suggests more than 24 potential Shinnecock Casino sites

This Google map identifies more than two dozen Nassau and Suffolk County locations previously or currently under consideration for casino development by the Long Island-based Shinnecock Indian Nation and its Detroit-based partner Gateway Casino Resorts, L.L.C.

View Various Proposed Shinnecock Casino Sites in a larger map

Shinnecock Nation Chair Testifies at Joint Senate Hearing in Albany on Gaming

A Joint Public Hearing of the New York State Senate Committee on Racing, Gaming & Wagering and New York State Senate Committee on the Judiciary was held 9.07.2011 in Albany.

Randy King, chair of the Shinnecock Indian Nation was first to present public testimony at the hearing. Here's his testimony (reader embedded below) as presented for the record and archived at Scribd:

Shinnecock Nation Chair Randy King - Testimony New York Senate Legislative Committees - 2009.09.07

Agenda and Complete Testimony as presented at the 9.07.2011 Hearing. (.pdf) 


See other documents at Scribd.com.

D.C. Lobbyists Paid $2.33 Million to Advance Shinnecock Casinos

D.C. Lobbyists were paid more than $2.33 million in the quest for federal recognition of New York’s Shinnecock Indian Nation.

Somehow the poor impoverished Shinnecock Indian Nation paid $1.25 million to lobbying firms in its quest for Recognition that would lay the groundwork to develop casinos on Long Island.  Amended lobbying disclosures report that Gateway Casino Resorts pays the lobbying bills and controls the lobbying contracts for the Shinnecock Indian Nation.

Additionally, Gateway Casino Resorts, the Detroit-based investment group behind the tribe’s casino plans, paid more than $1.08 million to D.C. lobbyists during the same period of time.

Washington D.C. Lobbying Payments

Partner (Registered Lobbying Client)	Lobbying Payments (through 2011)
Gateway Casino Resorts	$1,085,000
Shinnecock Indian Nation	$1,250,000
Total	$2,335,000

Source: OpenSecrets.org

Originally organized as Empire Ventures, L.L.C. in 2003, and then changed to Empire Associates, L.L.C., when amended Articles of Organizations were filed in 2004; the investors group fronted by Detroiters Michael Malik and Marian Ilitch, began reporting its name as Gateway Casino Resorts, L.L.C., with its 2005 annual corporate filing.  The first lobbying reports were filed in Washington, D.C. that same year.

Ilitch owns among other things, Detroit’s MotorCity Casino.  Malik had been one of the “founders” of MotorCity Casino but failed to win a Michigan gambling license in 1999 and was forced  to drop out of the Atwater Associates syndication (MotorCity's investment group) before the casino could open its doors. 

Another Atwater partner was Herb Strather.  Like Malik, controversy seems to follow Strather.  After both being cut-out of MotorCity Casino before the gambling hall could open its doors, each pursued similar casino development schemes elsewhere. 

Malik has pursued casino development plans for Long Island and Strather pursued similar plans for Cape Cod.  They used financing and influence models similar to those that had worked for them earlier in Detroit. In fact, three quarters of those parties investing in Strather's Cape Cod syndicate had also been investors in one of the earlier entities that morphed into MotorCity Casino.

Strather’s schemes, unlike Malik’s, were scandalously exposed in 2007.  Strather had been fronting for silent partners Len Wolman, Sol Kerzner, international casino moguls. The chairman of the Mashpee Tribe, partners with Strather’s investors group, was arrested for fraud and various schemes they had concocted to fund lobbying and political campaign contributions -- schemes that had earlier/elsewhere gone unnoticed or undetected.

Also see:  

• Scandal Continues to Plague Political and Lobbying Activities of Detroiters Bankrolling Shinnecock Casino Plans
• Shinnecock Casino Backers have dropped $117,500 on top-ranking NY Politicians
• Shinnecock and Ilitch affiliate Gateway Casino Resorts paid $1.5 million to New York Lobbyists
• Congressman Bishop Under Fire For Accepting Michael Malik's Contribution
• Questions Surrounding $15K Gov. Cuomo Accepted From Detroit Casino Syndicator
• Ilitch affiliate retains former U.S. Senator Alfonse D'Amato's lobbying firm to push New York Casino plans for Shinnecock

Detroit Casino Syndicators Organize Additional Gaming Affiliates in Decade Long Pursuit of CA & NY Gambling Halls

Last week (8.25.2011) agents for Detroit casino syndicator Michael J. Malik, Sr., filed documentation with the Michigan Secretary of State establishing what surely are additional affiliates involved with the financing and management of casino development schemes involving partnerships Malik and Mrs. Marian Ilitch have established previously with Indian Tribes in California and New York.  Barwest affiliates have previously been associated with the Los Coyotes Band of Indians.  Gateway affiliates have been associated with the Shinnecock Indian Nation.

Entity Name	ID Number	Type
MJM BARWEST, L.L.C.	D6469D	Limited Liability Company
MJM BARWEST, L.L.C.	G97631	Filing Pending
MJM GATEWAY, L.L.C.	D6470T	Limited Liability Company
MJM GATEWAY, L.L.C.	F98915	Filing Pending

The following is a more comprehensive, possibly incomplete, listing of affiliates organized by Malik and his partner Marian Ilitch over the last decade as they have pursued various gaming proposals with the Los Coyotes Band of Indians (Barwest, LCB Barwest) and the Shinnecock Indian Nation (Gateway, Empire).

Entity Name	ID Number	Type
BARWEST HOLDINGS, L.L.C.	B5364W	Limited Liability Company
BARWEST LIMITED LLC	D36573	Limited Liability Company
BARWEST MANAGER, INC.	46514H	Corporation
BARWEST, L.L.C.	B7017H	Limited Liability Company
LCB BARWEST HOLDINGS, L.L.C.	B7687W	Limited Liability Company
LCB BARWEST MANAGER, INC.	54512C	Corporation
LCB BARWEST, L.L.C.	B6746L	Limited Liability Company
MJM BARWEST, L.L.C.	D6469D	Limited Liability Company
MJM BARWEST, L.L.C.	G97631	Filing Pending
MJM GATEWAY, L.L.C.	D6470T	Limited Liability Company
MJM GATEWAY, L.L.C.	F98915	Filing Pending
EMPIRE ASSOCIATES, L.L.C.	B5590M	Prior Name
EMPIRE VENTURES, L.L.C.	B5590M	Prior Name
GATEWAY CASINO RESORTS, L.L.C.	B5590M	Limited Liability Company
GATEWAY FUNDING ASSOCIATES, L.L.C.	B7525N	Limited Liability Company
GATEWAY HOLDINGS, L.L.C.	B1421R	Limited Liability Company
GATEWAY MANAGER, INC.	09829D	Corporation

Not included in these lists of Malik/Ilitch gaming affiliates are those related to Detroit's MotorCity Casino or gaming ventures/proposals involving Michigan's Little River Band of Indians or Bay Mills Indian Community.