Oneida Nation Casino New York

The Oneida Indian Nation closed Turning Stone and its other casinos in mid-March after the governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut jointly announced that the states will shut down. The Oneida Nation gave more than $70 million in revenues for New York and $18 million to Oneida County, officials said. That surpasses the $50 million projected when the state and the Oneida. Turning Stone Resort Casino is a resort owned and operated by the Oneida Indian Nation (OIN) in Verona, New York. The facility opened on July 20, 1993, and offers golf amenities (on- and off-site golf courses, one of PGA Tour quality, and an indoor golf dome), an RV park, an amusement arcade, many restaurants, spas, Bingo, Keno, table games, and many types of reel and video slot machines.

The award-winning Turning Stone Casino Resort is nestled in the heart of Central New York. The 3,400 acre resort features luxurious hotel accommodations, a full-service spa, gourmet and casual dining options, celebrity entertainment, five diverse golf courses, an exciting nightclub, and a world-class casino. The Oneida Indian Nation’s three casinos in Central New York have been open, on a limited basis, since June 10. The Seneca Nation’s three Western New York casinos and other gaming halls have been opening in phases this month. The small Lakeside Gaming hall run by the Cayuga Nation in Union Springs has been open since mid-May.

The Oneida Indian Nation in central New York is looking at ways it can reopen its casinos in the area once it receives the go-ahead from the state.

Ray Halbritter, Oneida Indian Nation representative and CEO of Nation Enterprises, released a video last week detailing how the nation may reopen its casinos when the time comes — citing safety as the main concern.

“That’s really the only issue for us,” he said in the video.

“It is what causes us to consider opening in a gradual fashion. We want to protect the people that work for us and the people who come visit us. That is our primary goal.”

The Nation closed its three casinos — Turning Stone Resort Casino, Point Place Casino and Yellow Brick Road Casino — in mid-March following a joint order from the governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut that shut down all casinos, gyms and movie theaters in the tri-state area.

The Nation, excluded from the governor’s order, chose to close the locations.

More: Coronavirus in New York: What a slow reopening of businesses might look like

'Lift each other up’

With more than 4,759 employees, the nation is the largest employer in Oneida County.

Employees deemed nonessential were furloughed and provided with some help, including coverage on a portion of their health care premiums.

Nation officials said employees with the Oneida Indian Nation Police Department, Oneida Health Services, Maple Leaf Market and SavOn are among those considered essential.

“When the Oneida Indian Nation announced it would be temporarily closing its hospitality venues, we announced that we would be providing all full-time employees with an additional 80 hours of paid time off to use for any COVID-related issue, on top of their regular paid vacation days,” said Joel Barkin, a tribe spokesman.

“We immediately set up and staffed an internal call center just for our employees to answer questions, help with unemployment and support our employees any way possible.”

More: Add one more casino to upstate NY

Oneida Nation Casino New York Phone Number

Barkin said the nation is paying a portion of health care premiums so employees do not lose coverage during the pandemic. Those not working are able to collect unemployment, which is paid for by the nation and administered by the state.

Barkin also said the Nation has created an employee-only Facebook group that allows employees to stay connected and have questions answered quickly. It also has included reopening plans and ways to help in the community, Barkin said.

“It has been a critical resource for us to share news and updates, but to also help lift each other up,” he said.

The group also has shared guest video messages to employees from Syracuse men’s basketball coach Jim Boeheim and his wife Juli, Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente Jr. and U.S. Rep. Anthony Brindisi, Barkin said.

Meanwhile, the Nation also is staying in contact with the public via a new initiative launched in March called Turning Stone From Home.

The program is a series of video messages recorded by employees in their homes that includes advice on making the most of time, sharing recipes, golf tips and how to create a spa experience at home.

The videos are posted on the Turning Stone Resort Casino Facebook page.

More: Coronavirus: Movie theaters, gyms, casinos closed amid 'unprecedented time'

Social distancing questions at casinos

Picente has similarly explored how to reopen Oneida County.

The Oneida County executive said he’s held several conference calls in the last month with other leaders in area counties to discuss the reopening process.

A plan was sent last week to Gov. Andrew Cuomo for approval.

Oneida Nation Casino New York Ny

The county executive said he frequently has talked with Nation officials throughout the pandemic, including possible reopening plans.

'I've been in contact with them right along,” Picente said during a recent coronavirus briefing. “The difficulty is that's going to be a more global type of decision, I sense, from the state because of the way gaming is.

He added, 'And, really, how they can establish themselves or set up with the proper social distancing because obviously a big piece in Turning Stone, the main attraction is the gaming floor, which again, has various numbers in terms of machines, but also table games and the contact between machines, the chips, the different cards, etc.”

More: Resorts World, Rivers closes casinos in New York City, Schenectady and Catskills amid coronavirus spread

Picente also pondered if the Nation would consider opening just the restaurants at the casinos before gaming resumes. Casino restaurants have not done takeout during the pandemic, he said.

In the video, Halbritter said he is going to use the work of scientists, experts and local officials to help decide how and when to reopen.

“(We’re going to) try to open business in a way that does not endanger the public’s well-being,” he said.

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Edward Harris is a staff writer for the Observer-Dispatch in Utica.

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Coronavirus: Oneida Nation mulls reopening options for central New York casinos

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