Empire Resorts Comments on Mohawk Decision

Empire Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ: NYNY) today confirmed that
it is in receipt of a letter, dated November 2, 2005, from the St.
Regis Mohawk Tribal Council to Philip Hogen, Chairman of the National
Indian Gaming Commission, and George Skibine, the Bureau of Indian
Affairs' Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Development
and Policy, stating that the Tribe has formally decided to pursue a
casino project solely with Empire Resorts at the Monticello Raceway.
The Tribe has withdrawn its application for land at the Kutsher's site
and requested an expedited review of its application to acquire 29.31
acres at Monticello.
   David P. Hanlon, CEO and president of Empire Resorts, stated, "We
are grateful for the confidence that the Mohawk Tribe has placed in us
and look forward to finalizing and developing a world-class casino
together in the Catskills."

   About Empire Resorts, Inc.

   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. This facility
features over 1,700 video gaming machines and amenities such as a
350-seat buffet and live nightly entertainment. Empire is also working
to develop a $500 million "Class III" Native American casino and
resort on a site adjacent to the Raceway and other gaming and
non-gaming resort projects in the Catskills region and other areas.
Additional information can be found at 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.