NYNY Empire Resorts Inc

Empire Resorts (NASDAQ: NYNY) announced today that New York State's highest court has issued a final decision in the case of Dalton v. Pataki and Karr v. Pataki, in which the Company had been a defendant. The decision by the New York Court of Appeals upholds the position of the State Attorney General regarding the validity of gaming laws passed by the NY Legislature in 2001, including provisions for class III casino gambling on lands in the Catskills to be held in trust by the United States Government for Indian tribes. The ruling also upholds the validity of Video Lottery Terminals ("VLT") operations at racetracks in New York State -- including Monticello Raceway. Robert Berman, CEO of Empire said, "We are pleased that the State's highest court has decided all issues in these cases favorably to the Company, and that the matter has been finally resolved after four years of litigation." The ruling upholds the legality of the Company's current VLT gaming operations at Monticello Raceway and proposed projects to develop and manage Indian gaming facilities at the Monticello Raceway and the Concord Hotel & Resort. The decision provides the State, Indian tribes and the Company assurance that they may lawfully move forward to negotiate, operate and finance gaming operations in the Catskills. A copy of the decision is available at: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/ctapps/decisions/may05/51opn05.pdf About Empire Resorts: Empire operates the Monticello Raceway and is involved in the development of other legal gaming venues in New York. Empire opened Mighty M Gaming at the Raceway site on June 30, 2004. The facility features 1,718 video gaming machines and amenities such as a 350-seat buffet and live nightly entertainment. Together with the Cayuga Nation, Empire has announced plans to develop a $500 million "Class III" Native American casino and resort on a site adjacent to the Raceway. In addition, Empire has recently announced plans to develop a second casino and resort in the Catskills with the Seneca Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma. Statements in this press release regarding the company's business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties, including the need for regulatory approvals, financing and successful completion of construction. The company wishes to caution readers not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which statements are made pursuant to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1994, and as such, speak only as of the date made. To the extent the content of this press release includes forward-looking statements, they involve various risks and uncertainties including (i) the risk that the various approvals necessary as described herein and other approvals required to be obtained from the United States Congress, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the National Indian Gaming Regulatory Commission, the Governor of the State of New York and various other federal, State and local governmental entities are not received, (ii) the risk that financing necessary for the proposed programs or projects may not be able to be obtained because of credit factors, market conditions or other contingencies, (iii) the risk that sovereign Native American governments may exercise certain broad rights with regard to termination of its agreements with the company (iv) the risk of non-compliance by various counterparties of the related agreements, and (v) general risks affecting the company as described from time to time in it's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For a full discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in the company's Annual Report or Form 10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year.