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Atlantic City casinos remain closed because of the coronavirus

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After years of ups and downs, Atlantic City's casinos are facing another setback. All nine of them remain closed because of the coronavirus and most of the people who worked in them have lost their jobs.

Reach Rich here. Beginning at 8 p.m. EDT, casinos in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut are being ordered closed 'until further notice' to combat the coronavirus, the states' three governors. The award-winning Turning Stone Casino Resort is nestled in the heart of Central New York. The 3,400 acre resort features luxurious hotel accommodations, a full-service spa, gourmet and casual dining options, celebrity entertainment, five diverse golf courses, an exciting nightclub, and a world-class casino. ALBANY – Workers at closed casinos in New York rallied at the state Capitol on Thursday to urge Gov. Andrew Cuomo to let the facilities reopen, saying their livelihoods are at stake. ALBANY — Workers at closed casinos in New York rallied at the state Capitol on Thursday to urge Gov. Andrew Cuomo to let the facilities reopen, saying their livelihoods are.

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ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – After years of ups and downs, Atlantic City’s casinos are facing another setback.

All nine of them remain closed because of the coronavirus and most of the people who worked in them have lost their jobs.

“It’s very quiet out here,” said Scott Heath, a food server at Caesars.

Heath said he’s worked in the city’s casinos for 40 years, but he’s not used to seeing the area so desolate.

“There’s no traffic. On a day like this, you would have traffic. You would have the jitneys operational going both ways. Yeah, it’s very eerie,” Heath said.

Scott Heath has worked in the city's casinos for 40 years.

The casinos have been closed for nearly nine weeks – the longest closure in Atlantic City’s history.

“When we closed in the past, it’s been for a short time. When we closed for [Hurricane] Sandy and the state budget not being approved, we were closed for less than a week,” said Steve Callender, the president of the Casino Association of New Jersey.

According to the state’s Division of Gaming Enforcement, over 26,000 people worked in Atlantic City’s casinos as of March 1, and most of them have been laid off.

“Certainly, the most unique time in my 40-plus-year career,” said Jim Allen, the chairman of Hard Rock International and CEO of Seminole Gaming.

Allen said it could take a while for the city to recover financially.

All nine casinos have been closed for nearly nine weeks – the longest closure in Atlantic City’s history.

“It’s going to be a very, very slow and gradual process of coming back. I do think that the long-term recovery could be close to a year,” Allen said.

The American Gaming Association estimated the casino closures have been costing Atlantic City $540 million a month.

But, according to Allen, safety has remained the top priority. “This is not about just making money; this is about being very cautious. We are dealing with human life here.”

With no reopening date in sight, industry experts have been preparing for the future once the state gives casinos the green light to open their doors.

“The casino is going to be much different than people are used to seeing it,” Callender said. “If you’re playing slots or tables, you won’t sit next to someone you that don’t know. The employees will all be wearing masks.”

And, forget those casino crowds.

Atlantic City's casinos remain closed with no reopening date set.

“It literally could be anywhere from 20 percent of capacity, but certainly no greater than 50 percent,” Allen said.

Heath asserted that he’s used to change in the area. “There’s been a lot of ups and downs.”

This was the fifth time the casinos in Atlantic City have closed.

“We always come back, and I am confident that we will, that we will persevere. We’re pretty strong here,” Heath said.

ALBANY – Privately owned casinos in New York will be able to reopen their doors Sept. 9 after a lengthy COVID-19 shutdown that kept them closed since March 16.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the state's casino reopening plan Thursday, four days after promising a decision would be coming this week.

The casinos will be required to cap their maximum capacity at 25%, while those who enter the facilities will be required to wear masks and some slot machines will be closed to ensure for social distancing, according to Cuomo.

The state has not yet approved table games, though casinos will be able to seek approval once installing physical barriers between guests.

The reopening decision will apply to all racetrack casinos as well as the state's four full-fledged, privately run casinos: Resorts World Catskills in Sullivan County, del Lago in Seneca County, Rivers Casino in Schenectady and Tioga Downs in Tioga County.

It also could provide a break for local governments in the casinos' regions, which rely on tax revenue from the facilities that has been wiped out while they've remained closed.

The casinos will be required to ensure their air filtration systems meet certain requirements set by the state, similar to the requirements set for indoor shopping malls.

'Casinos can open Sept. 9 on the condition that they have the enhanced air filtration system in place before they open,' Cuomo said on a conference call with reporters.

Now, casinos will be working over the next week to ensure they can reopen as early as possible.

Genting, which operates Resorts World Catskills and the massive Resorts World racetrack casino in Queens, plans to open its doors on Wednesday.

Casino Closed In New York Today

'We have implemented a plan to seamlessly integrate the unmatched experiences in excitement, entertainment and luxury that guests have come to expect, with the more stringent health protocols that are needed to operate safely,' Bob DeSalvio, president of Genting Americas East, said in a statement.

Meghan Taylor, Genting's vice president of government affairs, said guests will have their temperature checked upon entering the casino.

There will be at least 200 hand sanitizer stations throughout Resorts World Catskills, which does not recirculate air and has an air filtration system that exceeds the state standards, she said.

Some of Resorts World Catskills' amenities, such as valet parking and its bus system, will not be open at first, Taylor said.

The other three private, full-fledged casinos had not yet announced a reopening date as of Thursday afternoon.

A spokesman for Tioga Downs said the casino was waiting for the state's official guidance documents to be released before declaring an opening day. As of 2:40 p.m. Thursday, those documents — which will lay out the exact requirements casinos have to comply with — had not yet been made public.

Rivers Casino & Resort in Schenectady will announce a reopening date soon, according to the casino.

“The Rivers team has been working hand-in-hand with the state to make all the changes necessary to reopen and we will meet, or exceed, all requirements to provide a safe and healthy entertainment environment,” Rivers General Manager Justin Moore said in a statement.

Yonkers’ Empire City Casino, one of the state’s largest gambling facilities, said it is excited about the reopening of their facilities.

“We are awaiting specific guidelines from the state but are very excited to be able to start to welcome back our employees and guests in a safe and healthy manner,” a company spokeswoman said.

Empire City hopes to open in September, keeping in mind the time it will take to recall its workforce and get them trained. When employees are recalled to work, they will maintain their seniority and their benefits will begin immediately, with no waiting period.

Empire City had furloughed more than 900 employees as the coronavirus pandemic took hold in New York.

Native American-run casinos, which are not constrained to the state's COVID-19 shutdowns, have already been open in New York for months after temporarily shutting down in March, April and May, when the coronavirus was at its peak in New York.

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That includes the Seneca Nation's casinos in Buffalo and Niagara Falls, as well as the Oneida Indian Nation's Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, Oneida County.

Cuomo had been reluctant to reopen casinos, noting the balance he must strike between essential economic activity and the health of the general public.

But the state's faring far better with the coronavirus than it did in March, April and May, when it experienced hundreds of COVID-19 deaths a day. Now, the rate of COVID-19 tests coming back positive each day has been under 1% for three weeks.

State Budget Director Robert Mujica said casinos have not yet been approved to allow table games, including black jack and poker.

But he said that could change. The state Gaming Commission will have the ability to approve table games if casinos create a system that allows for physical barriers between participants, he said.

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Taylor said Resorts World Catskills is hopeful it will get Gaming Commission approval before opening day, noting table games will be limited to three people per table and barriers have been or are being installed.

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The casino is also in the process of figuring out how many previously furloughed employees will be recalled.

Resorts World Catskills, which employs 1,400 people under normal circumstances, furloughed about 1,200 people as the COVID-19 shutdown dragged on.

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More: SUNY Oneonta: In-person classes canceled for fall semester, students to be sent home

More: New York casinos are still closed. Why workers say they are going bust

Jon Campbell is a New York state government reporter for the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached at JCAMPBELL1@Gannett.com or on Twitter at @JonCampbellGAN.

Tiffany Cusaac-Smith of The Journal News contributed to this story.

Casino Closed In New York City

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This article originally appeared on New York State Team: New York casinos can reopen Sept. 9 after lengthy COVID-19 shutdown