With a ceremonial first roll of the dice, the Big Apple’s first ever full-fledged casino officially threw open its doors Tuesday.
Resorts World New York City, which has already been licensed to operate slot games at its Queens compound for more than a decade, will now offer up over 240 table games as part of its recent multi-billion dollar expansion.
“Gambling is terrible, it destroys people. I’m here to get destroyed,” Kenny Callis, 45, a construction worker from Brooklyn, quipped to The Post as he eagerly arrived for the launch of the live table games.
“I’m going in today, I’m going to play blackjack and roulette,” he said.
The entire third floor of the facility, which is located next to Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, now features blackjack, craps, baccarat and roulette — as well as the thousands of already existing slot machines.
Queens-bred rapper Nas and a “who’s who” of local elected officials were on hand for the grand opening ceremony.
“We are all in,” KT Lim, chairman of the Genting-owned Resorts World, declared as he rolled the dice.
Owners of Resorts World, a Malaysian-headquartered company, said the expansion was creating well over 1,200 new jobs for the city, including 950 new table-game dealers.
“We are changing the landscape of New York City with a building that will never close. This is literally going to be the world’s largest casino,” said Kevin Jones, the casino’s chief strategy officer.
“This is historic. This is going to be a tectonic shift.”
Democratic Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato was among those to hail the expansion, declaring Queens was now the borough to be.
“I like to gamble. A great steakhouse with parking, here? I like to have a drink. Live music? A great cold drink right here? This is a game changer, locally,” she said. “We are the borough to be at now! We are the destination.”
