Casinos? Marijuana? Why NY should stop trying to legalize vices

It’s bad enough when government acquiesces in societal degradation by winking at “broken windows,” the “minor” crimes that precede murder, rape, assault and overall civic breakdown.But it’s immeasurably worse when elected officials and their functionaries themselves wield the bats and throw the stones.This is the lamentable state of things in New York City, a hapless creature of the state government in Albany that wields far too much sway over Big Apple affairs.Our elected governors and legislators actively abet activities once widely and properly understood to be serious vices, but are today regarded in many elite minds as harmless habits and mere “lifestyle” choices.”Casino gambling, like lotteries and sports betting, effectively imposes a regressive tax on those least able to afford it.

It facilitates organized crime and rarely, if ever, delivers the economic and employment benefits claimed for it by well-paid lobbyists.Albany legislators in 2022 voted to authorize up to three new casino licenses downstate, including in the Big Apple.Real estate companies teamed up with casino operators and rushed in with proposals.

One prominent partnership, Related Companies and Wynn Resorts, yanked its scheme for a complex at Hudson Yards from consideration this week, leaving eight proposals still in contention.Today,  the city’s economy is on an upswing from COVID-era doldrums.The COVID-hobbled real estate market is surging anew.

Nearly all the jobs lost to the pandemic have been regained.Tourism hit a near-record high in 2024.What purposes, then, would casinos serve at, for example, the Coney Island Boardwalk or next to Citi Field? Only to further impoverish lower-income residents lured by the false promise of riches.

And, of course, to fatten the wallets of developers, casino moguls, and politicians, to whom will redound incalculable largesse from the beneficiaries of their support.Next up: marijuana.The risks of unchecked consumption are no secre...