In his 2012 State of the State Address, when Gov. Andrew Cuomo pushed gambling in New York when he launched his casino initiative, the big idea was to end the constitutional prohibition of commercial gambling so that the Genting Organization, one of the world’s largest “gaming development companies,” could build “the largest convention center in the nation” in Queens, in New York City — an activity that the governor promised would “generate tens of thousands of jobs and economic activity that will ripple throughout the state.”

But wait! Soon enough this plan had been completely inverted. By the time of the 2013 State of the State Address, when it came to the state’s need for more gambling, New York City was no longer the solution, it was the problem! Unveiling the inverted plan, the governor wrote: “No casinos will be located in New York City — the plan is to bring Downstate New Yorkers and other visitors to Upstate.”

And why is this rationale so compelling? It turns out that the real need, when it comes to new gambling, is to “boost Upstate development” and “get that traffic from New York City to Upstate New York.” The new idea is that “resort destinations with enhanced gaming” will “supercharge the state’s tourism efforts” in Upstate New York. Moreover, limiting the new casinos only to certain areas in Upstate New York “guarantees there will not be an excessive proliferation of casinos within New York state.”

Read more on gambling in New York at Syracuse.