While the doors to both Tioga Downs and Vernon Downs remain closed to the public, American Racing and Entertainment has taken the difficult but legally required step to send warning notices to all of their more than 900 employees, notifying them that they will be terminated at the end of September.
According to the New York Department of Labor’s WARN System, and under the casino’s details, it states, “Separations began on March 16, 2020, and the business will permanently close effective Oct. 1, 2020.”
Six hundred and four employees would be affected at the Tioga Downs location in Nichols, N.Y., and the remainder at Vernon Downs, located in Vernon, N.Y.
In a roundtable discussion with Congressman Tom Reed on Thursday to discuss municipal assistance, Tioga County’s Treasurer, James McFadden, noted that the county is losing approximately $120,000 a month from Tioga Downs. The Town of Nichols, he added, is in tough shape; although the Legislative Chair, Martha Sauerbrey, stated that they have been conservative with their spending.
For owner Jeff Gural, chairman of American Racing and Entertainment and owner of Tioga and Vernon Downs, he is very concerned for his team members that have been furloughed due to the coronavirus pandemic since mid-March.
Gural’s response followed Governor Cuomo’s recent announcement that casinos and movie theaters in New York State will remain closed while the state government continues to review the requirements for a safe reopening.
According to the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, an employee that has been temporarily laid off (or furloughed), will automatically be terminated at the six-month mark. In a press release from Tioga Downs, a spokesperson wrote, “Most of Gural’s employees at both locations have been furloughed since mid-March and will surpass the six-month mark as of late September or early October timeframe. While the current furloughed employees are financially managing with federal benefits such as the CARES Act, these benefits are quickly coming to an end as of July 31.”
With the significant drop in benefits and financial support, Gural feels it is more important than ever to get them back to work, stating, “While I think we all agree the Governor has done an amazing job by using facts to virtually eliminate the virus in upstate New York, including the Southern Tier, where on most days we see almost no one testing positive, it may seem counterintuitive but it is actually less safe to keep the upstate casinos closed. We know for a fact that our customers are not sitting home waiting for us to reopen. They are simply getting in their cars and driving to casinos in areas where the transmission rate is far higher.”
Gural added, “The closest casino to Tioga Downs is in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, where they have a meat packing plant. Another option is Atlantic City, where we know the number of people testing positive is higher than in the Southern Tier. These casinos allow far more customers, and unlike casinos upstate, do not have representatives of the Gaming Commission on the floor to monitor the implementation of the rules and regulations that have been set. The last thing we want is for these people to bring the virus back to the Southern Tier from outside the region.”
According to the release, they are prepared and both casinos are in the process of upgrading their filters to MERV-13 filters for their HVAC systems as recommended for shopping centers. They are additionally arranging for COVID-19 antibody testing for all employees prior to coming back to work to prevent the spread of the virus.
Once they receive approval from the State to open their doors, both casinos are additionally setting up protocols to monitor guests to ensure that if they have recently visited or are coming from a high-risk state or local zip code where there is a spike, they will be excluded from the facilities.
They have also retained the services of Well Health Safety for Clean Air-System and Core Management Services, a local Binghamton company, to monitor all of their equipment and cleaning protocols.
“Part of my decision to open casinos in Upstate New York was inspired by my commitment to supporting this community and being part of a positive economic driver for the area,” stated Gural. “My primary concern is for my employees, and it pains me to send them this notice when I know they have already been out of work for some time and are relying on benefits to support their families. I fully understand the necessity to keep both our staff and our guests healthy by closing for now, but I am eagerly anticipating safely getting everyone back to work soon.”
Since the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic, both Tioga Downs and Vernon Downs have donated to their local communities to continue to support and feed families in need. Gural looks forward to working with the state to open his casino doors soon while ensuring the health and safety of his guests and keeping them from traveling outside the area to gamble.
We need to get these open. If they close for good, it will hurt this area big time! There must be a way to do it safely. It is already hurting the counties that depend on the income from the casinos.