How Empire City Casino works
The casino is a racino under New York law. Its machines are video lottery terminals, now called video gaming machines, linked to a central system run for the state lottery, as our video lottery terminals guide explains. The state gaming commission counted an average of about 4,500 machines in daily operation in September 2026.
The floor includes electronic table games, where blackjack, roulette, craps and baccarat are played on automated terminals rather than with a dealer. Video poker sits on the machines too. What the building lacks is any live table, a poker room or a sportsbook, all of which need a commercial casino license that this site does not hold.
The 2025 license bid and why it ended
MGM filed for one of three downstate commercial licenses on June 26, 2025. The plan would have redesigned the floor and added a 5,000-seat performance venue, a sportsbook, nine restaurants and a 4,800-space garage. The local community advisory committee approved it 5-0 in September, moving the bid to the state siting board.
On October 14, 2025, MGM withdrew, citing four competing proposals clustered nearby and a license term of 15 years rather than 30. It said it would keep running Empire City Casino in its current format. The state then awarded the licenses in December 2025 to Hard Rock’s Metropolitan Park, Resorts World New York City and Bally’s Bronx.
Racing at Yonkers Raceway
Yonkers is one of the oldest track sites in the region. It opened in 1899 as the Empire City Race Track, where Seabiscuit won stakes in 1936 and 1937, and became a harness track under the Yonkers Raceway name in 1950. The Rooney family, owners of the Pittsburgh Steelers, bought it in 1972 and held it until the MGM sale.
The racing season opened on January 19 in 2026, and through the spring the track raced Monday to Friday with a 6:45 p.m. post. Overnight purses rose by at least 10 percent in late March. The Standardbred Owners Association’s new contract with MGM Yonkers runs through December 31, 2028, and calls for nightly racing on the half-mile.
The stakes calendar is strong for a half-mile. The Ursula McIntyre Pacing Series, formerly the Blue Chip Matchmaker, and the MGM Borgata Series fill the spring, the Yonkers Trot and the Messenger, both Triple Crown races, come in summer, and the International Trot follows in autumn. Our pari-mutuel betting guide covers how the wagering pools work.
MGM says it has spent more than $1 million on the racing side since 2019, resurfacing the oval with over 6,000 tons of recycled material, upgrading the paddock and adding LED lighting and an infield tote board. The finish line was moved back about 100 feet after 2015, and the passing lane in the stretch was removed in 2018.
Food and drink at Empire City Casino
The 2013 expansion of Empire City Casino added 66,000 square feet, a skyline artwork made of nails and two restaurants. One was Dan Rooney’s, an Irish pub named for the original Rooney family bar in Pittsburgh. Dining outlets change more often than the gaming floor, so check the current list before planning a meal.
Age limit and ID at Empire City Casino
The age limit for the gaming floor and for betting on races is 18, three years below the 21 required at New York’s commercial casinos and in Atlantic City. That rule comes from the state’s video lottery law rather than from MGM. Security checks a government photo ID at the entrance, so first-time visitors should carry one.
No hotel at Empire City Casino Yonkers
There is no hotel on the grounds in Yonkers, so most visitors come for an evening and leave. Those who want to stay overnight use chain hotels along the highways of southern Westchester or base themselves in the Bronx or Manhattan, which are minutes away by car. The withdrawn 2025 plan did not bring a hotel either.
Getting there and other New York racinos
The property sits at Central Park Avenue and Yonkers Avenue, next to the New York State Thruway. Rail riders take Metro-North’s Harlem Line from Grand Central to Mount Vernon West, served by a free casino shuttle, and several Westchester Bee-Line bus routes stop on site. On race nights the first post has been 6:45 p.m.
Within New York, the next nearest racino after Empire City Casino is Saratoga Casino Hotel, about three hours north by car, and the thoroughbred track at Finger Lakes is farther west. The New York racinos overview covers every track, and our racino revenue guide shows how floors like this one fund racing purses.