
If New Yorkers thought online casino legalization advocacy was all they would hear about from state Sen. Joseph P. Addabbo Jr., they found out just how wrong they were on May 17. That’s the day that the legislator emailed his constituents a poll asking about their thoughts on four pieces of legislation. One bill was about iGaming and iLottery, but the others were about legalizing prostitution, self-administered euthanasia, and adding a subway extension vs. parkland.
Addabbo, D-Woodhaven, tops the survey with a neutral statement:
Periodically, a select number of bills and issues have the potential to be addressed in Albany. The poll below includes a few of these types of issues where your input is important to me.
Then, he requests input from his constituents on the controversial bills.
Addabbo sponsors only SB8185, the iGaming and iLottery measure. If lawmakers approve the bill and Gov. Kathleen C. Hochul signs it into law, New York online casinos, poker, and lottery would be legal.
He opened the survey on his New York State Senate page on May 13. Addabbo set a deadline of May 31 so that he can consider responses in time to vote. The New York State Legislature adjourns on June 6.
He also asks for age, gender, and ZIP code to help him better understand his voters’ positions.
Online Casinos Almost Seem Tame
Compared to legalizing prostitution or self-administered euthanasia, asking voters about iGaming and iLottery suddenly seems less controversial.
Addabbo asks in his survey on the New York State Senate site:
With many New York residents participating in illegal, unregulated, and unsafe gaming operations over the Internet, I introduced legislation allowing licensed interactive gaming operators to offer online casino games to the public. Steps to protect consumers, combat compulsive gaming, and prevent minors from accessing online gaming sites are included. iGaming would create an estimated $1 billion in additional revenue annually and create jobs.
Do you support or oppose iGaming?
0 Support
0 Oppose
0 Unsure
Green Space or M Train Extension?
The more complicated survey question is whether residents of Addabbo’s district prefer QueensLink or QueensWay.
Googler Jeremy Espenshade sums it up for the New York University publication, The Wagner Planner:
Inspecting a satellite map of Queens, you may notice two slices of green cutting north to south: one in a graceful arc from Woodside down through Ridgewood and into Brooklyn, the other bending through Rego Park before shooting a straight path through Ozone Park on its 3.5-mile route to Jamaica Bay. The first of these arcs will be the home of the Interborough Express, a $5.5 billion light rail line backed by Governor Kathy Hochul and actively being developed by the MTA. The second is an abandoned section of the Long Island Rail Road Rockaway Beach Branch with its future at a crossroads.
For many years, there have been two competing visions for this corridor:
* The QueensWay envisions transforming the elevated rail bed and surrounding land into a 47-acre linear park.
* The QueensLink envisions 33 acres of new parkland complementing an M line Subway extension from Rego Park to the Rockaways.
Addabbo asks survey-takers to click on QueensLink or QueensWay.
On the evening of May 17, a “neither” option also appeared.
Poll results aren’t yet visible.