BETHEL - “When I first met Senator John Bonacic years ago I thought he had a speech impediment,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo joked during yesterday's Casino Press Conference at Bethel Woods. “All he could say was ‘Casinos, casinos, casinos.'

“Well, he was right, casinos was the answer [to economic development],” Cuomo said.

More than 30 years after the first words were uttered about casinos in the Catskills, Sullivan County is now preparing to break ground on one of the biggest projects ever in upstate New York - Montreign Resort Casino in Kiamesha Lake - with a price tag of $630 million.

Developers from Empire Resorts and EPR were on hand to thank local and state officials for all their help along the way. And the 250 casino boosters in the room heard Gov. Cuomo tell them that it was their victory.

“It was a lesson of life,” Cuomo said. “Never give up. It was a 30-year fight and the victory goes to those with stamina.”