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OP-ED HERE’S WHY DOWNSTATE CASINOS WOULD BE GOOD FOR NEW YORK

ANY COMMUNITY CONTEMPLATING the arrival of a new business venture has questions. Will this business create jobs, taxes, traffic, crime? Will it compete with neighboring businesses? Will its arrival create lasting positive change for the host community? The arrival of a new casino is no different. Like countless industries that have made their home in the tristate area, the casino industry comes with a lengthy résumé, including a history of operation, in a variety of forms, across the region with arguably variable degrees of success over time. In answering the above questions, we might say: jobs, yes; taxes, yes; traffic, yes; crime, it’s complicated, but there’s likely no more crime than what’s related to any other type of tourism activity.

Will it compete with gaming and nongaming businesses locally and regionally? Yes, but maybe that’s a good thing. Will it create lasting positive change? Yes, if done right.

The first few questions have been discussed at length by a variety of sources. Therefore, I will weigh in on the latter two.

Any new casino entering the mid-Atlantic region, let alone downstate New York, will face steep competition from gaming and nongaming operations as all vie for consumer attention and spending. They will be challenged to offer a high-quality, distinctive product that earns its place with consumers.

Existing operators regionally have already heard this call, responding in a quiet (and not so quiet) race to diversify their gaming products (sportsbooks, online casinos) and add nongaming amenities (restaurants, conference and live performance venues, and retail offerings).

Although established gaming locations in downstate New York may have an advantage in speed to market and brand recognition in opening full casino

SARAH GRADY operations, they—like their new counterparts—will need to develop and enhance all aspects of their on-property services and amenities to compete locally and regionally.

When done thoughtfully and with an eye to future innovation, the development and enhancement of these businesses can have a meaningful and lasting impact on the host community in the creation of sustainable, well-paying jobs and the generation of taxes from a variety of revenue streams. ■

Sarah Grady is assistant director of Stockton University’s Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism.

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ABNY CEO Melva Miller leads by broadening organization’s reach

INTERVIEW BY JUDY MESSINA

As an expert networker and community organizer, Melva Miller honed her skills as founding executive director of the Sutphin Boulevard Business Improvement District and in the Queens borough president’s office, where she was director of economic development and. later, deputy borough president. Among Miller’s accomplishments in Queens was as project lead for the state-funded strategic investment plan to revitalize downtown Jamaica by attracting residents, visitors and new industry and helping existing businesses thrive and grow.

Miller joined the Association for a Better New York (ABNY) to lead its 2020 census initiative, educating New Yorkers on the importance of being counted. Miller has worked to broaden ABNY’s membership, increasing the number of labor-organization members and recruiting smaller businesses, sole practitioners, women-led businesses, and organizations and businesses from Staten Island.

How did you come to your current position of power? I started at ABNY in 2018 to run the census effort, bringing our public and private partners, to complete the count for the 2020 census. We had the opportunity to broaden ABNY’s network, reaching into communities we historically were not able to work with. Leadership found there’s a unique opportunity to work closely with these communities and build relationships with them. It evolved into a vision of how ABNY could grow, and in August 2020 they asked if I would take over as CEO.

How would you describe what you do? Primarily, ABNY is a convener. In founding ABNY, the founders were convening stakeholders across the city [in order] to come up with innovative solutions to address the city’s most pressing problems. I really see the work I do as being a community builder. You have to think comprehensively when thinking about growing the city, for example, how public transportation affects the growth of a community and schools, how education helps growth.

How does one exercise power in the work you do? In my experience, power lies in being able to lead from behind. We can’t do things by ourselves—we need others. It’s the building of a coalition that gets things done. When you do that, you create relationships and foster those relationships in a way that people respect. My holding power or the organization’s holding power really lies in the relationships we have with other stakeholders around the city. You need the public sector, the private sector, the nonprofits, whether it’s real estate or artists. They are the things that make New York City great and we need New York [to be] behind those things.

What are the benefits of holding power? People need to feel invested in something in order for them to appreciate it and be proud of it.

If we are convening stakeholders around an issue whether based on historical relationships or context, people will come and we can leverage our power to get things done. When we were trying to get a complete count for the census, we were able to make phone calls, sit around a table with the government, the nonprofit sector, the for-profit sector and come up with a comprehensive plan. How you use power— because of reputation or relationships, you can leverage that to get things done. People will listen and they will be enthusiastic.

Our community-based art program around Covid was a space that ABNY was not traditionally in. We said we want you to lead this and we’ll support you and there was a better outcome because the community felt invested because of how inclusive we made it.

What is the most important thing you’ve accomplished since you became head of ABNY? To make it more inclusive. I’m really proud of how we’ve grown not only in size and reach, but how we have diversified in geography, getting some Staten Island businesses and organizations involved, also smaller businesses, sole practitioners, women-led businesses. We have always had labor participation, but we have grown labor organizations. When you’re talking about a better New York, you can only do that with diverse voices around the table. I’m proud of how we’ve grown and have reached out to all corners so they can participate in a really meaningful way.

What is on your agenda for this post-pandemic period we are in right now? Growing the city and how we do that, making it a better place for all who work, visit and live in New York. It’s not “this or that.” It’s “this and that.” Something we are really focusing on are conversations about how to make the city more affordable—how we make sure the city remains and becomes sustainable for everyone, [that] people make a fair and livable wage, way [that] we have affordable housing. We want to make sure the city continues to grow and that industry continues to come to the city and that all classes and lives are in the conversation.

Takeaway for business professionals

Melva Miller is the first CEO of the Association for a Better New York, a coalition of businesses, nonprofits, labor and government that works to develop programs and public policies for the betterment of the city and its residents.

DOSSIER

ASHLEY HOLT NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES 7 ON HER RÉSUMÉ Founding executive director, Sutphin Boulevard Business Improvement District (2004-07); director of economic development, Queens borough president’s office (2007-15); deputy Queens borough president (2015-18); executive vice president, ABNY (2018-20); CEO, ABNY (2020-present) BORN New York City RESIDES Laurelton, Queens EDUCATION Bachelor of Science, criminal justice, John Jay College; Master of Social Work, Hunter College; Master of Arts in philosophy, City University of New York; Doctor of Philosophy, City University of New York BREAKING THE MOLD Miller led ABNY’s 2020 census initiative to maximize the city’s census count, the results of which affect countless programs from hospitals and health centers to food programs and housing vouchers. In the process she brought together 50 organizations, including players in health care, labor, philanthropy and the nonprofit world that used their networks to provide information and encourage New Yorkers to complete the census.

Queens borough president’s office? The roles were very similar. The work I’m doing now is just on a citywide scale. As executive of a county, we weren’t legislators but wanted to make sure the borough ran smoothly through public services, schools, sanitation, economic growth. [In my role at ABNY] I work with the public sector all the time to move the city forward, very similar to what I did in Queens. I worked with private sectors on how to grow Long Island City, how to make downtown Flushing more affordable. [At ABNY we do it] on a citywide scale. People come to us expecting us to automatically do things—but it’s work. It’s [also] an opportunity because we have to show who we are and that we really care.

What lessons have you learned during your career? About power? About people? The biggest lesson I’ve learned around power is that you don’t have it unless other people give it to you. You have to earn it and when you don’t earn it, it’s not true power. In my experience it’s really about those relationships that you build along the way. ■