NYNY Empire Resorts Inc

Empire Resorts, Inc. ("Empire") (NASDAQ: NYNY) today announced that on Thursday, June 15, 2006, the Sullivan County Legislature passed a resolution approving a local mitigation agreement between the County and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe in regards to a casino at Monticello Raceway. This agreement stipulates that the tribe will make annual payments of $15 million dollars to the County to mitigate any potential impact of the proposed Class III casino. Sam Wohl, Sullivan County Legislator and Chair of the Sullivan County Industrial Development Agency, stated, "The St. Regis Mohawks will become a big player in our local economy. The positive economic spin-off from this casino will translate into new job opportunities for our residents, increased local commerce and a jump-start to our tourism industry." David P. Hanlon, Empire's President and CEO, commented, "We are pleased to see the County reach agreement with our partners, the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe. We believe there will be many substantial benefits to Sullivan County and the surrounding community from a casino and look forward to working with the local leadership to make this dream a reality." About Empire Resorts Empire operates the Monticello Raceway and is involved in the development of other legal gaming venues. Empire opened Mighty M Gaming at the Raceway site on June 30, 2004. This facility features over 1,500 video gaming machines (VGMs) and amenities such as a 350-seat buffet and live entertainment. Empire is also working to develop a "Class III" Native American casino for the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe on a site adjacent to the Raceway and other gaming and non-gaming resort projects in the Catskills region and other areas. For more information visit www.empireresorts.com 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.