Casino Hurting Local Businesses

The Niagara Seneca Casino and Hotel promised millions to local residents, and told them that by coming in they were going to change the town. They told them that the amount of new business that they would be bringing in would be more than they could handle, but the fact is that that could not have been further from the truth.

Those that own the smaller businesses in town – like restaurants, retail shops, etc. are losing money instead of gaining it. The casino offers those same things, and residents say that people rarely, if ever, leave the casino to shop outside of it.

The local shops are losing money to the casinos, and feel that more of the revenue that comes from their slot machines should be passed down to the community. They say that the promises that the casino made to them are not coming true, and they are being penalized by having the casino in their town. Residents say that with no revitalization of the town going on, there are no jobs that are not connected with the casino. They say their young people are leaving in droves, and the casino has exacerbated the problem.

Now that the casinos want to add table games to their slot machines it is only going to get worse. They say the fact that the casino is owned by the Seneca Nation of Indians, they don’t have to follow the same rules and restrictions that other places have as well. They say that the casino gets to go around regulations that the others have to abide by, which only makes it worse for the local businesses.



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