It is spending at least $90 million to build a 276-room hotel along with another 35,000 square feet of meeting/events space near the existing 282-room hotel, which is scheduled to be completed later this year.Įven without the potential of competition in New York City, Wind Creek is already in a highly competitive region. Since purchasing the casino from Las Vegas Sands for $1.3 billion in 2019 and changing the name to Wind Creek, Poarch Creek Indians Gaming Authority has been busy upgrading its investment.

“Give them a reason to drive past the other casinos and as we’ve seen in Atlantic City, it’s got to be something really significant because people will go to closer places to gamble if they can.” “I think that’s what it comes down to a lot of times is, ‘Can we offer a better promotional package to people?’ ” he said. Schwartz, who has written books on the gaming industry, said Wind Creek will have to offer something that new casinos in New York City don’t have. Some offer free slot play to entice riders.īut what would happen if a casino, or three, were to open in the New York area? What would happen to those hundreds of players who stream in on those buses if there were a closer option to Manhattan?

Several other companies based in New Jersey offer daily and weekly trips. Though Wind Creek doesn’t release statistics on how many visitors arrive on buses, Bethlehem-based Trans-Bridge Lines has a daily trip from the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan to Wind Creek with stops at Newark Airport and Clinton, New Jersey. Bethlehem is usually a shorter trip than Atlantic City, especially during summer weekends when people head to the Jersey Shore. The parking lot normally contains dozens of cars with New York and New Jersey license plates, owing to the fact that Wind Creek, located about 85 miles west of Manhattan’s Times Square, is a straight shot down Interstate 78.

It’s not an uncommon sight at Wind Creek Bethlehem - bus loads of tourists from the New York City area disembark for a day of gambling and dining at the casino in the city’s South Side.

Nyc to parx casino