QUEENS, NEW YORK — Hip-hop icon and investor Nas joined Genting Chairman KT Lim, elected officials and community leaders for the grand opening of Resorts World New York City in Queens, marking the arrival of New York City’s first full-scale casino with live table games.
The April 28 opening transformed the long-running Resorts World property next to Aqueduct Racetrack into a commercial casino featuring 242 live table games and 2,507 commercial slot machines. The opening floor includes blackjack, baccarat, craps and roulette.
For Nas — born Nasir Jones and raised in Queens — the event represented the latest stage of a transformation from celebrated rapper to technology, entertainment and hospitality investor.
Nas takes the first roll
Nas was among the central figures at the opening ceremony, joining Genting chairman KT Lim for the ceremonial launch.
After the ribbon-cutting and first roll of the dice, Nas delivered a performance of “If I Ruled the World,” connecting the casino’s opening to his Queens roots.
Special guests and VIPs
The opening brought together a mixture of business, political and entertainment figures, including:
- Nas — Queens-born rapper, investor and Resorts World partner
- KT Lim — Chairman of Genting Group
- Donovan Richards Jr. — Queens Borough President
- Robert DeSalvio — President of Genting Americas East
- Stacey Pheffer Amato — New York State Assemblymember
- Queens community leaders and elected officials
- Community partners and Resorts World executives
The ceremony was presented as more than the opening of another gambling venue. Local officials framed the project as part of a broader attempt to establish Queens as an international entertainment and tourism destination.
A casino with a global kitchen
Gaming is only one part of the Resorts World expansion. The property is also developing a major culinary program designed around the cultural diversity of Queens.
Among the current dining choices are RW Prime, combining American and Asian influences; Vibe BBQ by celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson; Dragon Xpress Chinese Kitchen & Sushi; Good Friends Noodle House, featuring Vietnamese, Hong Kong and Malaysian dishes; Rockaway Pizza; Sugar Factory; Starbucks and Popeyes.
RW Prime features dishes influenced by Eastern and Western cuisine, including prime-aged Angus beef, seafood and burgers. Vibe BBQ brings American comfort food and house-smoked meats to the complex.
The future integrated resort is planned to go considerably further, with 30-plus dining outlets, including concepts associated with chefs Marcus Samuelsson and Scott Conant.
How much did Nas make?
This is where the story requires an important distinction.
Nas is publicly described as a partner in the Resorts World project, but neither Nas nor Resorts World has publicly disclosed the size of his ownership stake or how much he personally earned from the casino’s opening.
That means claims circulating online that Nas owns a specific percentage — or that he immediately earned a specific dollar amount — should be treated as speculation unless supported by a disclosed agreement.
What can be established is the scale of the opportunity.
Resorts World’s broader Queens plan represents approximately $5.5 billion in planned investment, with a future development that includes hotels, thousands of gaming positions, a 7,000-seat entertainment venue, additional restaurants and more than 12 acres of public green space.
The company has also projected billions of dollars in economic activity and substantial tax contributions to New York.
So while Nas’s personal casino earnings remain undisclosed, his investment gives him a position inside one of the largest new entertainment developments in New York City.
From hip-hop to the casino floor
The Resorts World partnership is another chapter in Nas’s evolution as an entrepreneur.
Through QueensBridge Venture Partners, he has invested in technology companies and startups, while maintaining his career in music and his Mass Appeal entertainment interests. His involvement with Resorts World adds hospitality and gaming to that portfolio.
The casino also has a strong symbolic dimension: Nas grew up in Queens and has repeatedly connected his business ambitions to economic opportunities in the borough.
The wider Resorts World project estimates that its expansion will create thousands of jobs, while the casino’s opening itself added more than 1,200 positions, bringing total employment at the property to roughly 2,200, according to reporting on the launch.
A new Queens era
For Resorts World, the April opening is only the beginning. The company has already described the current casino as the first phase of a much larger integrated resort.
For Nas, it represents something equally significant: a major investment tied directly to the community where his career and identity began.
The exact size of his financial return remains private. But the opening establishes Nas as more than the celebrity face of the project — he is publicly identified as a partner in a multibillion-dollar Queens development that is reshaping New York City’s gaming, entertainment and hospitality landscape.
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