Is Marian Ilitch behind plans to develop Indian casino at New York's Belmont Park Race Track?

Detroit's Marian Ilitch and her casino and real estate partner Michael J. Malik, Sr., formed the casino syndicate Gateway Casino Resorts in 2003 to pursue Indian gaming ventures with the Shinnecock Indian Nation of New York. The tribe is not yet federally recognized by the U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, but has a reservation in Southampton, NY.

Ilitch and affiliates are reportedly paying the Shinnecock's legal and lobbying bills and if the tribe wins federal recognition, Ilitch and affiliates would have the exclusive right to develop and manage any casino resort the tribe would develop and operate. According to Opensecrets.org, they have spent more than $1.6 million alone in federal lobbying activities.

Initially Ilitch and partners sought to develop a 65,000 square foot casino project in Hampton Bays part of Long Island's posh Hamptons resort area -- 4.3 miles from the tribe's offices and 85 miles from New York's Times Square. The tribe owns property known as "The Westwoods" north of Newtown Rd. and broke ground on that project in 2003. That project has subsequently met with much resistance and is stalled.

In 2007, Ilitch and her partners, made a bid that would have allowed Gateway and the Shinnecock to develop a casino resort project on the grounds of the Aqueduct Race Track in Queens, NY -- approximately 14 miles from Times Square. That casino would have been 495,000 square foot -- 7.5 times the size of the original casino proposed for the Hamptons and 4.5 times larger than Ilitch's MotorCity Casino in Detroit.

Now the Shinnecock tribe, which has had its desire for federal recognition fast-tracked thanks to funding and support from Ilitch and affiliates, is bidding to develop and operate a casino project at Belmont Park Race Track -- approximately 19 miles from New York's Times Square. Presumably Ilitch's affiliates are part of this latest Shinnecock casino scheme.

Marian Ilitch and her husband Mike Ilitch own the Detroit Red Wings NHL franchise and c0-founded Little Caesars pizza stores. He also owns the Detroit Tigers and she owns the struggling MotorCity Casino, one of three large Las Vegas-style casino properties in Detroit. Their parent company is the privately held Ilitch Holdings, Inc.

Google Map of various casino sites
as proposed by Shinnecock/Gateway

View Various Proposed Shinnecock Casino Sites in a larger map

Shinnecock security guards going to extremes on Westwoods property

7.09.08

Trustees continue to investigate beach access issue
By Vera Chinese

Southampton Village resident Timothy Corwin is still awaiting an explanation as to why he was accosted—and allegedly threatened—by a security guard for the Shinnecock Indian Nation while walking along the beach last summer on the tribe’s Westwoods property, which overlooks Peconic Bay in Hampton Bays.

“They said they had the authority to drop me where I stood,” Mr. Corwin, who later reported the incident to the New York State Police and Southampton Town Trustees, said of the lone security guard. “I would take that as a physical threat, but I didn’t see any point in getting into fisticuffs with the guy.”

According to Mr. Corwin, he was walking on the beach below the high water mark—an area that is traditionally governed by the Southampton Town Trustees, in accordance with the Dongan Patent, and accessible to all town residents.

Mr. Corwin’s encounter was not an isolated incident. Last month, four people were injured in a brawl after authorities said two Shinnecock tribe members approached a group of young adults who were hanging out on the beach along the Westwoods property. State Police said the fight started after the two Shinnecocks told group members that they were trespassing on tribal property. One of the victims had to be airlifted to the hospital after being hit in the head with an unidentified object, and two other men suffered injuries after they were swatted with burning logs from a nearby bonfire. One of the Shinnecocks suffered a broken wrist during the melee, police said...

Undermining that argument is a ruling last year by U.S. District Court Judge Joseph F. Bianco. He determined that the Westwoods property, which is located north of Newtown Road, cannot be considered sovereign tribal land. In his October 2007 ruling, Judge Bianco said the land cannot be sovereign because the tribe had relinquished its ownership for a time in the 1600s. Therefore, the judge said, a gaming facility cannot be built on the property once the Shinnecocks receive federal recognition.

According to the 130-page ruling, the Westwoods property is not exempt from Southampton Town zoning laws and must comply with residential zoning. That would mean that Southampton Town residents are allowed to be on the beach, below the high water mark, as is true throughout the town. If this is the case, then the Shinnecocks would not be within their rights to block people from walking below the high water mark... (Complete Story)

Southampton Town Agrees to Purchase 65-Acre Parcel on Peconic Bay

Acquisition Protects Peconic Bay Shoreline, High Priority Land According to The Nature Conservancy

Southampton, NY—September 25, 2006—Southampton Town Supervisor Patrick Heaney announced today the Town’s intent to purchase 65 acres of woodland and nearly half a mile of natural shoreline on Peconic Bay with sandy beaches and 50 foot bluffs. The Nature Conservancy assisted with the negotiations.

The property is located in Hampton Bays and has been owned and operated as a camp by the Girl Scouts of Nassau County for many years, with the vast majority of the spot being in its natural state.

This property, joined with Squires Pond Town Park to the east, will create nearly one half mile of public access to the water.

"This acquisition will give the people of Southampton a spectacular family-oriented beach on the Peconic Bay in Hampton Bays," said Supervisor Patrick Heaney.

The Town intends to pay for the parcel using monies from its Community Preservation Fund (CPF). The CPF is financed by a two percent tax on real estate transfers and is in effect in the five eastern Towns of Suffolk County. A 10-year extension of the two percent transfer tax will be on the ballot this November in the five eastern Towns.

"We are thrilled to assist with the purchase of this spectacular Hampton Bays property on the shores of the Peconic Bay," said Nancy Kelley, Executive Director of the Nature Conservancy on Long Island. "It is one of the our highest priority sites on Long Island and is part of Long Island’s Last Stand – our 10-year plan to protect the most ecologically important remaining parcels left."

Detroit casino syndicators selfishly pimp the environment on one coast but not the other

In California where they seek approvals for twin casino resorts in Barstow, Detroit casino syndicators argue it wouldn’t be prudent to build a casino resort on the shoreline of what’s said to be an environmentally sensitive and significant lagoon; but in New York they’re bankrolling plans that would develop a larger casino resort on the shores of the Great Peconic Bay – part of the Long Island Sound ecosystem.

Detroit casino syndicators lead by Mrs. Marian Ilitch and Michael J. Malik, Sr. are bankrolling plans for twin casino sites in Barstow by arguing, among other things, that even a modest Big Lagoon Rancheria Casino on the tribe’s existing reservation in Humboldt County would disturb the ecosystem of the Big Lagoon. They have said it “would potentially result in significant adverse impacts to off-Reservation lands and resources…” including the Big Lagoon Subdivision on the southern end of the Big Lagoon – two primary neighborhoods: (1) the 76 cabins/cottages dating to 1929 that constitute the Big Lagoon Park Colony; and (2) 33-newer homes in the Big Lagoon Estates.

They say the Big Lagoon has long been recognized as an important and environmentally sensitive natural habitat area – although they fail to explain it was used at one time as a bombing target practice range by the military and remains on the Defense Department’s pending cleanup sites lists; it’s surrounded by active timberlands downstream from a significant sawmill that was in operation for the better part of the 20th Century. Despite these facts, Peter Douglas, executive director of the California Coastal Commission, wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle that the area is “pristine” and referred to the Big Lagoon as an “untouched natural resource.”

The lagoon, separated from the Pacific Ocean by a narrow sand spit, is said to be a natural habitat for many special-status plant and animal species. The heavily wooded Harry A. Merlo State Recreation Area (a 1000-acre unit of the California State Park system), Humboldt Lagoons State Park, and Big Lagoon County Park surround the lagoon. The lagoon itself is a State Wildlife Area managed by the California Department of Fish & Game. There's never any mention of an additional 16+ acres the tribe also owns along the shoreline that's not yet held in Trust by the U.S. Government.

And while all That sounds rather noble and altruistic; and it might even be enough to persuade you that environmental protection was a sincere objective on their part; consider the following...

In New York these same Detroit gambling interests are bankrolling a billion dollar lawsuit and singing quite a different tune; ultimately intended to win approvals for the Shinnecock Indian Nation to develop a casino & hotel resort off-reservation lands on Long Island’s East End (that’s on the outskirts of the posh resort area called "The Hamptons"). That property sits along the shore of the Great Peconic Bay National Estuary and is within the fragile and unique Long Island Pine Barrens – Peconic River Complex. And development in the surrounding area today is low density residential similar to the Big Lagoon Subdivision.

The Great Peconic Bay is the body of water between the North Fork and the South Fork of Long Island. It is bordered on the West by Flanders Bay and on the east by the Little Peconic Bay. The dividing line between the Great and Little Peconic Bays is Robins Island. The Shinnecock Canal provides access from the Great Peconic Bay to Shinnecock Bay.

The Nature Conservancy has named the East End of Long Island one of the "Last Great Places of the Western Hemisphere." The Peconic Bay system is recognized as one of 28 nationally significant estuaries and has been named as one of the nation's "Aquatic Great Places." The Pine Barrens is not only a unique and fragile ecosystem but a critical watershed supplying Eastern Long Island's sole water supply.

Peconic Estuary Program
Nature Conservancy - Peconic Estuary
Pine Barrens Society
New York State Central Pine Barrens
Saving the Last Great Places of Long Island

YouTube: See just how concerned Detroit Casino syndicators are about the environment & preservation of "pristine natural resources"

In California, Michael J. Malik, Sr. and Mrs. Marian Ilitch have encouraged environmentalists who say the Detroit casino syndicators should be allowed to build twin casino resorts in Barstow in order to protect Humboldt County's Big Lagoon and the surrounding nature areas from the kind of negative impacts that are inevitable if the Detroit pair's Indian partners are allowed to build a modest casino on their existing Big Lagoon Rancheria, instead.

However, 3,000 miles away in New York the pair of Detroit business people shows much less concern for the environment and they are bankrolling plans to build a large scale Shinnecock Indian off-reservation casino resort on the Long Island shores of the Great Peconic Bay National Estuary and within the fragile and unique Long Island Pine Barrens-Peconic River zone; showing very little regard for what the Nature Conservancy has called one of the "Last Great" places in the Northern Hemisphere.

The following video is an excerpt from a longer feature opponents of the Shinnecock Casino Resort had produced to explain their concerns about the environment, traffic, crime, etc. (note: it references the tribe's previous financial partner/developer Ivy Ong).

When it comes to the environment, Detroit Casino syndicator is two-faced with "green"

In California where they seek approvals for twin casino resorts in Barstow, Detroit casino syndicators argue it wouldn’t be prudent to build a casino resort on the shoreline of what’s said to be an environmentally sensitive and significant lagoon; but in New York they’re bankrolling plans that would develop a larger casino resort on the shores of the Great Peconic Bay – part of the Long Island Sound ecosystem. It's all about "green" but not Al Gore's "green."


Playing the "green" card
Detroit casino syndicators lead by Marian Ilitch and Michael J. Malik, Sr. are bankrolling plans for twin casino sites in Barstow by arguing that even a modest Big Lagoon Rancheria Casino on the tribe’s existing reservation in Humboldt County would disturb the ecosystem of the Big Lagoon and “would potentially result in significant adverse impacts to off-reservation lands and resources…” They have failed to mention that the Big Lagoon is a former military bombing target practice range that remains on clean up lists maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control.

They are exploiting environmental concerns to justify turning plans for one casino on the Big Lagoon Rancheria into a twin casino resorts jackpot in Barstow. That spin might be enough to persuade some that environmental protection is a sincere objective on their part…until you consider the following:

Without regard for "green" off Long Island Sound (WATCH VIDEO)
In New York these same Detroit gambling interests are bankrolling a billion dollar lawsuit ultimately intended to win approvals for the Shinnecock Indian Nation to develop the only casino resort, on Long Island’s East End (that’s the posh resort area called The Hamptons); that property (off reservation lands) sits along the shore of the Great Peconic Bay National Estuary and within the fragile and unique Long Island Pine Barrens – Peconic River Complex. The only development in the surrounding area today is low density residential similar to the Big Lagoon situation.

The Great Peconic Bay is the body of water between the North Fork and the South Fork of Long Island. It is bordered on the West by Flanders Bay and on the east by the Little Peconic Bay. The dividing line between the Great and Little Peconic Bays is Robins Island. The Shinnecock Canal provides access from the Great Peconic Bay to Shinnecock Bay. And it’s all part of the larger Long Island Sound ecosystem

The Nature Conservancy has named the East End of Long Island one of the "Last Great Places of the Western Hemisphere." The Peconic Bay system is recognized as one of 28 nationally significant estuaries and has been named as one of the nation's "Aquatic Great Places." The Pine Barrens is not only a unique and fragile ecosystem but a critical watershed supplying Eastern Long Island's sole water supply.

Nevertheless, the same developers who say they should be awarded the privilege to build two casinos in Barstow in order to preserve the environment in Northern California are fighting to build an unprecedented casino resort without regard for the environment on the East Coast raising serious credibility issues.

It seems the only thing "green" that these casino developers care about is made by cutting down trees and can be deposited in their bank accounts. These people are clearly comfortable talking out of both sides of their mouths.

• YouTube: See just how concerned Detroit Casino syndicators are about the environment & preservation of "pristine natural resources"


• Peconic Estuary Program


• Nature Conservancy - Peconic Estuary


• Pine Barrens Society


• New York State Central Pine Barrens


• Saving the Last Great Places of Long Island