NYC NOW - New York City Finally Has a 'Real' Casino and It's Hiring

Episode Date: May 20, 2026

Resorts World in Queens just got live table games, making it the first full casino in New York City's five boroughs. WNYC reporter Arun Venugopal speaks with us about the ambitions of the New Yorkers who are working the tables, many of whom are earning upwards of $90,000 a year with benefits. Photo: Arun Venugopal/Gothamist -Got any questions, comments or story ideas? Send us a message at [e-mail] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

From WNYC, this is NYC Now. I'm Junae Pierre. I will be a dealer one at Resorts World. Compensation is great, and I think that really creates a great mood for everyone to be in. New York City's first full-fledged casino, Resorts World, recently welcomed live table games and job seekers in search of another kind of payout. On today's episode, we meet some of the people who are now dealing with.

dealing those cards. But first, here's what's happening in our region. Mayor Zoramam Dani is eyeing a large swath of Brooklyn, south of Prospect Park, for his first neighborhood-level housing plan. City planning director, City of Sherman, says the area is already home to four subway lines and could soon get the new IBX light rail. So this is really a great area for business opportunity, for affordable housing, and obviously a great area for growth. She says the zoning changes could fuel the construction of taller buildings and thousands of new apartments. The city is also planning a zoning overhaul for a northern section of the Bronx along White Plains Road. That plan began under former Mayor Eric Adams. The Long Island Railroad

strike is over, but the Republican in the gubernatorial race says Governor Kathy Hokel shouldn't be let off the hook. NASA County Executive Bruce Blakeman says the three-day strike costs millions of dollars in economic damage. He called the strike a strike a sign of incompetent leadership. But State Democratic Chair Jay Jacobs says that's ridiculous. He says Hogle deserves credit for standing up for riders. The Republicans are playing politics, and the governor is playing governor, doing the right thing for the people who use the Long Island Railroad. The governor's office declined to provide details on the deal that ended the work stoppage

until the union ratifies it, but she says it won't result in tax increases or fair hikes. The Trump administration is finalizing its plan to rebuild Penn Station. During a Senate hearing this week, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the Fed's plan to put up an astronomical amount of money to get the job done. And what comes to our rail, we're making generational improvements to the Northeast Corridor. That means transformative investment in New York's Penn Station. $8 billion, by the way. The Transportation Department did not lay out exactly how that. that $8 billion investment would be allocated.

But Duffy's comments marked the first time the Trump administration has said how much it plans to spend on the project. Amtrak, which is overseeing the rebuild, plans to announce a design and builder for the station next month. We've got to take a quick break, but when we'll return, some job seekers hit the jackpot in the form of a new gig. More on that after the break. Welcome back. Resorts World New York City has been in Ozone Park, Queens, since 2011. But recently, the casino got a major upgrade, live table games. Now, New Yorkers can legally play blackjack, baccarat, and roulette.

WNYC reporter Arun Vanekapal went out to Resort World, and he met some of the people who are now dealing those cards. Hey, Arun. Hi, Jena. Great to be here. Well, New York City, I know you went before the actual grand opening. What was it like then and what's different now? Well, there was plenty of energy when I went. Lots of people playing games, lots of other people lined up, hoping to get one of the jobs that's being offered at Resorts World. It's a big deal, not just for people who are looking for new opportunities and good incomes, but also for people who like to play. If you wanted to have the full experience of a live table game, whether that was, you know, Baccarat or roulette or some other games, you couldn't do that in New York City. You had to go upstate.

But that's changing now. And so there's a lot of hype and built up energy that we're seeing take place in South Ozone Park. Yeah, you said it's changing now. How did this even happen? In December, when the State Gaming Commission awarded three full casino licenses to three different facilities, one of them happened to be Resorts World, which has had a presence for about 15 years, as you said before. And so because it already exists and has had a built-in following, it was able to expand immediately in some form. The other couple facilities, which are Bally's Bronx in the Bronx and Metropolitan Park in Queens,

they're not opening for four years. They're going to open in 2030. So for now, resource world is the place in the fiberos. We can sit down at a black check table and have some fun. You know, Arun, I have to be honest, I didn't even know about Resorts World. I didn't know that this casino even existed here in New York City. And it's been around for 15 years. What does that say about the appetite for gambling in the Five Burrows?

You know, I think you can hear different responses to this question, Janay. There are people who support, say, Resorts World, who say, yeah, look, gaming can go on and you're not going to, you know, be any wiser for it. And then there are other people who are really opposed to casinos, at least in their own neighborhood. And they say it's going to bring a lot of unwanted visitors and problems like addiction and, you know, the loss of money of people who are working class and can't necessarily afford to lose a lot of money on gambling. Yeah. I hear you when you say, you know, some people think that it will bring unwanted visitors. But on the other hand, this expansion means hundreds of jobs for New Yorkers who are wanting. this work. Can you tell me about the people you met working these new jobs? Yeah, there is a really diverse set of people coming from across the region. I met new dealers who were moving here

from Connecticut, from far out in Suffolk County, from New Jersey, from here in the city, you know, racial diversity, men and women coming from different trades, some of whom are longtime dealers who are looking to make better incomes. A spokesperson, a spokesperson, in for Resorts World, Stefan Friedman, he told me that, you know, residents of Queens are going to receive significant hiring preferences. The pay is, you know, it starts at around $42 an hour for newcomers who don't have experience here. That's really good. Yeah. The average, Janay, is around $45 an hour. These are full-time jobs, though. So we're talking about people making about $94,000 a year. Yeah, the experience dealer is going to make, you know, we're looking at

six-figure, low six-figure incomes, and, you know, they also get 401Ks. And so for the people I spoke to, you know, they see these as really rare opportunities, not just sort of places they want to stop off for a year or two and springboard into some other profession. They see these as places to stay and maybe even retire from. One of the people I spoke to who is a new dealer, his name is Daniel Eng. I will be a dealer one at Resorts World. He's 32 years old

And he got this job after working at restaurants in the city and in the suburbs for years Compensation is great And I think that that really moves and really creates a great mood for everyone to be in Now, not all of these new hires like Daniel Eng are getting these dealer salaries But the company says that it's already hired more than 1,200 people for this fast-expanding casino And that they've got another 500 high-endant. scheduled by the end of June. And again, that's because this is an existing facility.

They can really ramp up stuff fast, unlike the other two facilities, which are only opening in a few years. Wow. And this is all happening against a pretty rough hiring backdrop for the city, right? It is. There's a lot of uncertainty in the city and across the country, really. Here in New York, you know, job creation hasn't been very strong across the five boroughs. there was a report released by the city controller, Mark Levine, in which he said that outside of just a couple sectors, health and social assistance, there was no net job creation in New York City in 2025.

So jobs like this, which are full-time jobs with benefits, pretty good salaries, you know, they mean a lot for people who can secure those jobs. That said, we also spoke to experts who do study casinos. and some of them point to a mixed bag when it comes to the economic impacts from casinos, because in some instances, they say a casino can generate a lot of new jobs, but it can also have sort of a predatory effect on the surrounding area with other businesses and lead to employment losses, say at restaurants or other places, which are seeing foot traffic be diverted to this kind of glamorous new facility, you know, elsewhere in the area. And so that's something we're not going to initially know for a while.

I'd like to give back to the new hires because they'll be making some really good money, as you mentioned, at least $90,000 in a salary, benefits, of course. I'm wondering, are they thinking about what they can do with some of the money they're earning from these casino jobs? Absolutely. I mean, several of them are planning to relocate from outside New York City to somewhere in the five boroughs. They want to buy homes. Some of them want to buy a new car. A couple of people, including Daniel Eng, who we heard from a little earlier, they're thinking about buying second homes, you know, maybe upstate once they've saved up.

Speaking to these people hearing all this, it really evokes a kind of set of middle-class aspirations that you don't hear about as often these days. One of the people I spoke to is Christian Perdomo. He's 23. He's an Air Force veteran. He told me the job is the foundation. he needs to actually start his adult life. I'm becoming a grown man.

I need health insurance, life insurance. But if I'm not going to start a family soon, I need insurance for them, you know. So the salary is definitely, definitely a massive step up for me. He also, I think, accidentally revealed that he's planning on getting engaged. So, you know, he's excited about, you know, where his life is going, and now he feels like he's got what he needs to start a family. Arun, I hope you didn't just ruin the surprise.

I hope Christians soon to be fiancé. is not listening to this podcast. I understand that you met one person who took this a step further and actually brought a family member along. Tell us about them. Yes, Lena Duviglass, she's 39 years old. She lives in Jamaica, Queens, and she's worked at this casino for 15 years since it opened in 2011.

She worked in the food court. And then one day she saw flyer advertising, this new dealer training program. She applied and she got in. And then she told her daughter about this job. Her daughter's name is Demetria Smith. She's 20. So Demetri applied two. And she also got in.

And Lena was saying that, you know, every day during dealer school, it's a 10-week program. Every evening she'd go back home and she'd practice by herself. She got into her full uniform and she'd run through the mechanics of dealing cards there in her apartment all alone. I had to buy the whole shebang, like the shoes, the belt, you know, the cards, like six. decks and I had to go and practice like every day even for five minutes you just practice to make perfect wow duverglass is very excited about this job and she says that you know once she saved up she hopes to buy a new home in barbedas nice you know ballies bronx and metropolitan park are still years away as you mentioned is new york city actually in a casino business now like for real

For real, full-fledged casino, business, you know, with Resorts World, this is what it looks like in year one. We're going to see it really expand in a big way in the coming years. And that expansion is going to lead to even more job creation across the five boroughs, right? That's the plan. That's WNYC's Arun Venica Paul. Thanks a lot, Arun. Thank you, Jene. And thank you for listening to NYC now.

I'm Jene Pierre. See you soon.