The New York State Gaming Commission (Commission) unanimously approved the appointment of three dedicated public servants – Quenia Abreu, Vicki Been and Stuart Rabinowitz – to the New York Gaming Facility Location Board (Board). Commission Chairman Brian O’Dwyer proposed the names at yesterday’s Commission meeting.

"I sincerely appreciate these individuals’ desire to accept this task, which is truly a public service,” said Commission Chairman Brian O’Dwyer. “This competitive process and the resulting projects can lead to real transformation of communities through capital, investment, direct and construction employment, and tax revenues.”

The Board is responsible for reviewing and evaluating casino applications and ultimately recommending up to three facilities for licensure. The process to establish up to three new commercial casinos in New York is just beginning: No determinations or licenses are expected to be issued until sometime later in 2023 at the earliest.

The Board will issue a Request for Applications (RFA) for interested casino applicants by January 6, 2023. The Board has launched a website nycasinos.ny.gov, which will be the repository for all materials relating to the siting process, including the RFA and submitted applications.

The Commission unanimously appointed the following members to the Board at its October 3, 2022 meeting:

Quenia A. Abreu is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the New York Women’s Chamber of Commerce, a not-for-profit membership organization dedicated to empowering and fostering the economic development of women and minorities through business ownership, microenterprise and self-employment.

Ms. Abreu, together with a group of business women and community leaders, founded the New York Women’s Chamber of Commerce in 2002. Today, with a membership of more than 2,000, the Chamber has provided technical assistance, guidance, and training to more than 10,000 individuals, assisted with the creation of more than 3,500 new businesses.

Born in the Dominican Republic and raised in New York City, Ms. Abreu has deep experience with the professional and business development of women and minorities. Previous to her work at the Chamber, Ms. Abreu held the position of Director at the Queens Economic Development Corporation and the Hunts Point Economic Development Women’s Business Center, managing the overall operations and day-to-day activities, and developing and executing initiatives to encourage women’s economic development in the South Bronx and Washington Heights. Prior to her employment in the area of economic development, Ms. Abreu worked for Columbia University, where she started as an office assistant and rose to the Associate Director of Recruiting and Placement.

Ms. Abreu holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Marketing and International Trade from the Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York and is a graduate of the Executive Education Programs at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.

Vicki L. Been is the Boxer Family Professor of Law at New York University School of Law, an Affiliated Professor of Public Policy of the NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and Faculty Director of NYU’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy. Professor Been returned to NYU following public service as Commissioner of Housing Preservation and Development for the City of New York and Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development.

Professor Been, who has been on the faculty at NYU since 1990, focuses her scholarship on the intersection of land use, urban policy and housing. Been has done extensive research on New York City’s land use patterns, inclusionary zoning, historic preservation, the interplay of community benefit agreements with land use practices, and on a variety of affordable housing and land use policies, including gentrification, mortgage foreclosure, racial and economic integration, and the effects of supportive housing developments on their neighbors. Been also writes about environmental justice, the Fifth Amendment prohibition against the taking of property without just compensation, and international protections for property owners. Been is the also the co-author of a leading land use casebook, Land Use Controls.

Professor Been holds a bachelor’s degree from Colorado State University and is a graduate of the New York University School of Law, where she was a Root-Tilden Scholar. She clerked for Judge Edward Weinfeld of the Southern District of New York and for Justice Harry Blackmun of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Stuart Rabinowitz is Senior Counsel to Meltzer, Lippe, Goldstein & Breitstone, LLP and focuses his practice on state and federal litigation, appellate litigation, constitutional law, civil rights law, voting rights law, education law, including higher education and labor relations and liaison with local, state and federal agencies and officers relating to economic development.

Mr. Rabinowitz served on the New York Gaming Facility Location Board in 2014-15.

Prior to joining the firm, for more than 50 years, Mr. Rabinowitz held numerous positions at Hofstra University, serving the last 20 years as University President. Prior to serving as President, he was a distinguished professor of law at the Hofstra University Maurice A. Deane School of Law, and was later named Dean of the law school, a position he held from 1989 through 2001. He retired from Hofstra in August 2021.

Under his leadership, Hofstra University received new regional, national and international visibility. He created several new schools, including the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, the Hofstra/Northwell School of Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies, the Fred DeMatteis School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the Peter S. Kalikow School of Government, Public Policy and International Affairs, and the School of Health Professions and Human Services. He also founded the University’s National Center for Suburban Studies and the Center for Entrepreneurship. In recognition of Mr. Rabinowitz’s outstanding contributions to Hofstra University, it has named its Honors College after him and his wife Nancy.

Mr. Rabinowitz was also instrumental introducing Hofstra University to a national audience, bringing three consecutive presidential debates (2008: Obama/McCain, 2012: Obama/Romney, 2016: Trump/Clinton) to the Hofstra campus, making Hofstra the only university in the U.S. to have hosted that many consecutive presidential debates.

In addition to his experience and significant accomplishments at Hofstra University, Mr. Rabinowitz worked at Rosenman & Colin LLP for a number of years and as an Associate Professor in law at his Alma Mater, Columbia Law School.

Outside of Hofstra University, Mr. Rabinowitz has held numerous leadership positions. He is a former member of the board of directors of the Long Island Association and was Co-Vice Chair of the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council. He currently serves as a member of the New York State Commission of Continuing Legal Education. He has received many awards for his service, among them the Martin Luther King Living the Dream Award, EOC; Distinguished Service in the Cause of Justice, Legal Aid Society; UJA Federation Leadership Award; and the Bar Association of Nassau County Proclamation for Outstanding Service to the legal profession and the community; the Conference of Jewish Organizations of Nassau County’s Community Service Award; the Alumni Association of the City College of New York’s 2005 Townsend Harris Medal; and Networking magazine’s David Award. He also received the Chief Executive Leadership Award from the CASE, District II, and was named to City and State New York’s Higher Education Power 50 and Long Island Power 100 lists in 2020. Claflin University presented Stuart with the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa.

Mr. Rabinowitz received a juris doctor, magna cum laude, from Columbia University School of Law, where he was a member of the board of editors of the Columbia Law Review and a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. He graduated from the City College of New York with honors and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

To learn more about the Board and the casino siting process, visit nycasinos.ny.gov.