Shortly after 1 p.m., when the doors of New York City’s first casino, next to the Aqueduct racetrack in Queens, opened to the public, Kim Franklin, 45, from East New York, Brooklyn, brushed past a security guard, extended both arms to ensure that no one behind her in line could pass and broke into a jog as she approached the escalators.
“Oh, my God,” she said as the flashing lights of video slot machines came into view. “I don’t even know where to go.”
The opening came about an hour after a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Resorts World Casino New York City that included company executives and elected officials talking up the economic benefits of the South Ozone Park site — the company says it will generate up to $1.5 million a day for the state — and ended with the release of 100 doves and a trumpet rendition of the “Rocky” theme. Then the crowds that had braved the morning chill were finally allowed inside, where four escalators connected the front doors to the main casino area. Three funneled guests up to the slot machines. Only one allowed them to come back down to exit.
Though the Elvis impersonator near the entrance insisted it “felt like Vegas” when he walked inside, the facility might look out of place on Nevada’s famous Strip.
Across the street from its parking lot on Friday, residents gardened in the yards of their single-family homes, many of which were festooned with gnomes or Halloween decorations. Inside the casino, to remain in accordance with state rules that prevent human-operated table games, visitors gambled in the company of a mechanized staff. At the baccarat tables, a long robotic arm dealt the cards. Guests shot craps using two fingers and a touch screen. And a roulette game was supervised by a chesty cyber-woman who leaned forward immodestly as she spun the little white ball on a pixilated wheel.
Some touches are deliberately local. Images of the city skyline splash across the casino’s walls. Areas are named for Times Square, Fifth Avenue and Central Park. Even some of the slot machines exhibit regional flair, like “N.Y. Gold,” “Wall Street Winner,” and a “Sex and the City” themed game.
Danny Falcicchio, 65, from nearby Howard Beach, won a $2,084 jackpot on the Wall Street machine, though a technical glitch delayed his payment for more than 40 minutes.
“I can walk here,” he marveled, chuckling as he sipped a drink. “That’s dangerous.”
Ms. Franklin, who took Friday off from her job as a principal’s secretary, harbored no such reservations. As she entered the casino, she received a call from a friend seeking an early review.
“Girl, I am in the casino,” Ms. Franklin said, raising her voice with each word. “I was the first one in the building.” Within minutes, Ms. Franklin was celebrating a $4 profit at a pirate-themed penny slot machine and contemplating her first drink order.
Near the bar area, replete with a 28-by-18-foot video screen, Richie Santa, the Elvis impersonator, was joined by imitators of Tina Turner and Lady Gaga. The latter said little, wearing a dress of playing cards. The former told passers-by that they were “simply the best,” interrupting herself occasionally to ask, of no one in particular, “Tell me something: What’s love got to do with it?”
For some of the thousands who showed up, Friday’s opening was less a celebration than a scouting visit. Elliott Simmons, 81, from Jamaica, Queens, said he had not yet gambled because he had to “learn the machines” first. He could afford to pace himself, he said, since he planned to visit about once a week.
“I usually go to Atlantic City,” Mr. Simmons said, unzipping a black pouch with membership cards from a half-dozen casinos. “But this is beautiful.”
He was proof, Mr. Simmons added, that the establishment would translate to “money coming in for the city.”
Did it bother him, he was asked, that it might be his money?
“This joint is nice,” he said, picking at the wisps of white hair on his chin. “And I win sometimes.”
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