Empire Resorts Provides Update to BIA Environmental Review

LAS VEGAS -- (PRESS RELEASE) -- Empire Resorts, Inc. ("Empire") (NASDAQ: NYNY - News) today announced that on February 6, 2006, representatives of the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe and the Company met with officials from the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in Washington, D.C. to discuss the status of the Tribe's request that a previously completed Environmental Assessment (EA) for a proposed St. Regis Mohawk gaming facility at the Monticello Raceway satisfies the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). At the meeting, the BIA stated that certain parts of the EA require additional analysis and that the BIA will provide the Tribe with specific comments within approximately three weeks. There is no assurance that the BIA will not require a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) or that the extent of the BIA's comments on the existing EA will not cause the Tribe to decide to perform a full EIS.

Responding to this development, David P. Hanlon, Empire's President and CEO, stated, "While we would have expected the BIA to move forward on the basis of the existing EA, we are encouraged that the BIA will continue to work with the Tribe to address any outstanding issues in an expeditious manner."