"On February 19, just seven weeks after taking office, [New York Gov. Eliot] Spitzer did something even Pataki never worked up the nerve to do, signing a formal letter of support to the U.S. Department of the Interior calling for a controversial new Las Vegas–style casino to be created in the Catskills.

The notion of Catskills casinos has been bandied about for so long it has started to rival Rip van Winkle as a favorite local myth up in the mountains. But after years of government dancing and dallying on the subject, Spitzer's sudden move was the most concrete step taken so far. And if it comes to be, there's no question that there's a pot of gold waiting for the successful entrepreneurs who will be able to offer gambling-happy New Yorkers a destination that's at least a half-hour closer than either Atlantic City or Connecticut's two gambling spas.

The planned $600 million gaming emporium, to be built on 29 acres at the Monticello Raceway in Sullivan County, would boast 3,500 slot machines, 150 gaming tables, and a 600-seat nightclub. The proud owner of all this would be the St. Regis Mohawk Indian tribe, whose reservation happens to be about 400 miles north of the site, on the New York–Canada border. This is where the Interior Department comes in: It must approve any off-reservation casinos and take the 29 acres "in trust" for the tribe. That's a prospect many believe dubious at best—but more on that later.

Relations between the St. Regis Mohawks and state government have been tense for years over law enforcement complaints of drug, alcohol, and cigarette smuggling across the border. But unlike the rest of the state, gambling is legal on tribal land, and since the tribe has promised to cut the state in on casino profits, there's a standing agreement to let bygones be bygones (provided that state taxes are henceforth paid on reservation smokes).

If the arrangement holds up, the Mohawks are poised to get a small piece of revenge for that 400-year-old swindle when the Lenape Indian tribe of Manhattan got taken to the cleaners by some cunning Dutch real estate brokers."

Get the Story:
The New Dealer (Village Voice 5/1)