The mayor of Revere, Massachusetts, Dan Rizzo, partnered with Mohegan Sun for a resort casino license at Suffolk Downs; however, on Tuesday, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission gave the license to Wynn Resorts and the Everett, Massachusetts, host community proposal.
What's next for Revere? Mayor Rizzo joined NECN to discuss.
"On Nov. 20, Suffolk Downs will be closing, and with that closing, away goes an 80 year legacy and close to 1000 jobs that go with it, so it was a big hit for our city and obviously we clearly thought we had the better project," Mayor Rizzo said.
With Suffolk Downs closing, Mayor Rizzo says his focus has shifted to the residents that are going to lose their jobs, some of who have been there for generations.
Mayor Rizzo continued by talking about the impacts an Everett casino would have on their community.
"I could never allow a project to go forward without mitigating the impacts," Mayor Rizzo said. "They have a traffic nightmare at Sullivan Square as it speaks right now. Now, they're going to put another five million vehicles per year into Sullivan Square without having to mitigate that. It was a little disconcerting to me to understand how they could do that."
In contrast, Revere and Mohegan Sun had addressed the traffic issues in their plan, Rizzo said. They also had a deal with Boston and Mayor Marty Walsh, which Everett and Wynn did not have. This led Mayor Rizzo to theorize the possibility that the Gaming Commission preferred a Wynn casino over a Mohegan Sun.
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Mayor Rizzo said that he will move on and talk about the positive attributes to bring positive investments to the city. This includes over two miles of oceanfront, three stops on public transportation, and a location that's five minutes from Logan Airport and downtown Boston.
Although the Revere and Mohegan Sun proposal was denied, Mayor Rizzo says he is still a proponent of casinos and supports them in the November vote.
