Empire Resorts Announces Ruling Upholding Indian Gaming and VLTs by New York's Highest Court

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.