Ex-NYC official argues Mohegan Sun tragedy should disqualify operator from downstate casinos
Kamal Bherwani called Mohegan’s joint bid with the Soloviev Group to be rejected. The pair propose building a $4bn casino and mixed-used project on a 6.7-acre site south of the United Nations complex on Manhattan’s East Side, to be called Freedom Plaza.
Bherwani previously served as chief information officer for health and human services under former mayor Michael Bloomberg and also worked for former mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Incident at Mohegan Sun
Bherwani’s son Ethan died of a fentanyl overdose on 18 May, after collapsing at a blackjack table at the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut. The younger Bherwani lay motionless on the floor for more than four minutes before any casino staff checked on him and a full 11 minutes before medics from the Mohegan tribe arrived.
As demonstrated by a video of the incident released by the New York Post, after Bherwani fell to the floor from his blackjack chair, a player from the table moved to another table to continue playing. Passers-by who tried to help were ordered away by casino employees.
The video also shows Jerrard Santiago, who is accused of selling the drugs to Bherwani, standing behind the victim when he collapsed.
By the time he arrived at Hartford Hospital Bherwani was brain dead and died at the facility nine days later. The medical examiner reported he had fentanyl, cocaine, marijuana and alcohol in his system, but was likely killed by the fentanyl.
Bherwani had been at the casino celebrating his graduation from Baruch College. The elder Bherwani told the Post he could have been saved had he gotten assistance within the first minutes after he collapsed.
“He made a mistake”
“If they had gotten to him in three minutes, he’d be completely alive,” Kamal Bherwani told the Post. “My son was going to law school. He was cooped up during the pandemic and celebrating his graduation; he made a mistake… but it should not have cost him his life.”
Mohegan is currently one of 11 bidders with projects in the New York metropolitan area for the three available downstate licences. Bherwani said the operator should be disqualified from New York.
“What [Mohegan] has proven is that they put money ahead of… safety,” Bherwani, who donated $30,000 to Hochul’s 2022 gubernatorial campaign, told the Post. “There is a culture there that permeates.
“You know the values of the Mohegan Sun just through what you see on the video.”