“How many casinos do you have lined up right here?” he asked in Atlantic City, where there are nine. They resoundingly rejected a plan in 2016 that would have authorized casinos outside Atlantic City, the only place in New Jersey they are permitted.Īllen, whose company spent a half-billion dollars to open a Hard Rock casino in Atlantic City in 2018, said the New York and northern New Jersey market can support numerous casinos. Hard Rock would need permission from New Jersey voters to build in the Meadowlands. “We're interested in both markets, and if God is good enough to allow us to operate in both, we would be happy to do so,” he said. Speaking at the East Coast Gaming Congress in Atlantic City, Allen said Hard Rock has been planning a New York project ever since the possibility was announced seven years ago.Īfterward, Allen said in an interview that the company is not abandoning a plan it unveiled in 2015 to build a casino resort at the Meadowlands Racetrack just outside New York City. Get Tri-state area news and weather forecasts to your inbox.