By Christian Spencer | news@queensledger.com
“Queens get the money,” Nas said Tuesday, and with the backing of leaders like Donovan Richards and Adrienne Adams, borough residents may also get jobs from a massive casino expansion in Jamaica.
It’s bigger than gaming — Queens is betting on Black people, as the grand opening of Resorts World New York City’s new live table-games casino signaled job creation, union labor, and economic opportunity in one of the nation’s most diverse boroughs.
As the current White House moves to dismantle what it deems DEI, displacing programs and Black government workers, the new casino was framed by Queens politicians and stakeholders as a rebuttal.
The April 28 opening introduced New York City’s first legal live table-games casino floor, bringing blackjack, craps, baccarat, and roulette to the Queens property, while company leaders touted rapid hiring growth and a workforce they said is more than 80 percent people of color and nearly half women.
“While the White House may be pushing back against diversity, equity, and inclusion, in Queens County, we celebrate diversity, equity, and inclusion,” Richards said.
Richards was not alone, as many speakers cast the project as a local hiring engine, a pathway to middle-class wages, and a countermeasure to President Donald Trump’s national efforts to roll back diversity initiatives.
It is important to note that the new live table-games floor was more than 15 years in the making, and Resorts World New York City has been a major community supporter and economic partner in Queens, including relief efforts during Hurricane Sandy.
Inside the Hyatt Regency JFK Airport at Resorts World New York City, thousands of guests surged in as Nas helped usher in the three-floor live table-games opening, with many attendees not only eager to try the new games, but also to grab the Queens icon’s attention.
Robert DeSalvio said the facility now employs 2,200 people, including 1,250 new jobs created through the expansion. He said a majority of those hires are from Queens, with another large share drawn from the city’s other boroughs.
“We are making history today,” DeSalvio said. “This is a statement about what New York City can build and deliver when government, community, and private investment come together with a shared mission and goal.”
Adams recalled that local leaders were initially skeptical when the company first approached civic groups years ago.
“We didn’t believe them,” Adams said, describing early conversations with Resorts World representatives. “We were very skeptical.”
But she said the company continued showing up, building relationships, and delivering on commitments that residents demanded.
“Here we are right now in 2026, seeing the benefits for this community here in the great 28th and beyond,” Adams said.
Richards tied those benefits directly to economic survival in an increasingly expensive city.
“These are people now on pathways to homeownership,” he said. “People now able to survive in a city where too often it feels like they are being pushed out.”
Lim Kok Thay, the Malaysian Chinese billionaire and executive chairman of Genting Group, said the company’s model is to invest long-term in the places where it operates.
“We do not build and walk away,” Thay said. “We invest, and we stay.”
