(Denise Jewell Gee and Bill Michelmore, Buffalo News) 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?
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.
