During a press conference at City Hall on Tuesday, Mayor Adams indicated that he has not been monitoring the developments surrounding the potential establishment of three casinos in the New York metropolitan area. This disclosure came shortly after reports emerged that a former high-level advisor to the mayor had signed an agreement with one of the companies bidding for a casino operating license.

When asked whether he had a preference for which operators should receive the licenses to run the casinos in New York State, Adams expressed his desire to see them located in the city but admitted that he had not been paying attention to the matter at all.

“I have not been following the casino dance, because of my understanding it’s the Gaming Commission that’s going to make the ultimate decision,” he said. “I just think that we should have it somewhere here in the city. I have not been following this at all.”

Politico reported only hours before the press conference that Frank Carone, who previously served as Mayor Adams’ chief of staff, had signed a contract with the law firm Greenberg Traurig. The firm is representing SL Green, a commercial landlord, as it seeks to secure a casino license in Times Square, partnering with Caesars Entertainment and Jay-Z’s Roc Nation.

In a statement to the news outlet, Carone said he’ll help to create “a diversified community-engagement hiring plan as part of the proposal for a Times Square gaming destination.”

SL Green is among the various firms competing for one of the three casino licenses available in the state, with other proposals including plans for casinos to be constructed on long-vacant properties near the United Nations, at the former President Donald Trump’s golf course in the Bronx, and in the vicinity of Citi Field in Queens.

It is anticipated that two of the licenses will be awarded to the existing racinos that are currently operating close to Aqueduct in Queens and in Yonkers.

News of Carone’s collaboration with SL Green emerged several months after the real estate company sued Financial Vision Group, a health insurance investment business co-founded by Carone, alleging that the latter had failed to pay rent on a 23rd-floor office in one of its Sixth Avenue properties.

After a judge recently ordered Financial Vision to pay $726,000 in the case, Carone maintained that he had no legal liability.