- Initial Statement of Beneficial Ownership (3)

FORM 3	UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES	OMB APPROVAL OMB Number: 3235-0104 Expires: February 28, 2011 Estimated average burden hours per response... 0.5
	Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person * D AMATO JOSEPH A	2. Date of Event Requiring Statement (MM/DD/YYYY) 9/14/2009	3. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol EMPIRE RESORTS INC [NYNY]
(Last)        (First)        (Middle) C/O MONTICELLO CASINO AND RACEWAY, ROUTE 17B, P.O. BOX 5013	4. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable) _____ Director                            _____ 10% Owner ___ X ___ Officer (give title below)          _____ Other (specify below) Chief Financial Officer /
(Street) MONTICELLO, NY 12701        (City)              (State)              (Zip)	5. If Amendment, Date Original Filed (MM/DD/YYYY)	6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line) _ X _ Form filed by One Reporting Person ___ Form filed by More than One Reporting Person

Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned
1.Title of Security (Instr. 4)	2. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned (Instr. 4)	3. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)

Table II - Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned ( e.g. , puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)
1. Title of Derivate Security (Instr. 4)	2. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (MM/DD/YYYY)		3. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 4)		4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security	5. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
	Date Exercisable	Expiration Date	Title	Amount or Number of Shares
Stock Option (Right to Buyt)	(1)	9/1/2014	Common Stock, $.01 par value per share	300000.00	$2.61	D

Explanation of Responses:
( 1)	1/3 of the options vested on September 14, 2010. An additional 1/3 of the options vest on September 14, 2011. The remaining 1/3 of the options vest on September 14, 2012.

Reporting Owners
Reporting Owner Name / Address	Relationships
	Director	10% Owner	Officer	Other
D AMATO JOSEPH A C/O MONTICELLO CASINO AND RACEWAY ROUTE 17B, P.O. BOX 5013 MONTICELLO, NY 12701			Chief Financial Officer

Signatures
/s/ D'Amato, Joseph A		9/16/2009
** Signature of Reporting Person		Date

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.
*	If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 5(b)(v).
**	Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
Note:	File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.
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