In 74 pages of carefully chosen words, the outgoing governor of New York, David Paterson, has sent his controversial but signed deal with the Stockbridge-Munsee band of Wisconsin Mohican Indians to build a casino in the Catskills to the U.S. Department of the Interior for approval.
The deal involves a land swap. New York gives the tribe New York’s blessings on 333 acres for their casino, and the Mohicans in return give up their claim to 24,000 acres of land in New York’s Madison County that they have contended historically and legally is theirs.
The compact, signed by both parties, will provide the state with a sliding scale of slot machine revenue, starting at 18 per cent initially and graduating up to 25 per cent in five years.
(Harness Tracks of America)