The four surviving bidders for a New York City-area casino face a crucial decision this week: deciding how much they're willing to pay in taxes without knowing what their rivals are offering, a blind bidding war that could push rates far above current projections.

Tuesday’s 4 p.m. deadline to submit that tax information to the state marks the next big test for the four remaining contenders for what are expected to be three of the most lucrative casino licenses in the country: Bally’s Bronx; Steve Cohen’s Metropolitan Park near Citi Field; Resorts World in Jamaica, Queens; and MGM Empire City in Yonkers.

After surviving votes by local community advisory committees, these four projects are facing final consideration by the state’s five-person Gaming Facility Location Board, whose members will consider each project’s potential for economic development, job-creation and construction speed as they pick the maximum three winners by Dec. 1.

In an unusual twist, New York’s process allows each applicant to propose its own tax rates, so long as they exceed the bare minimum of 25% on slot machines and 10% on table games. But none of the four applicants knows what the other is proposing, and it’s unclear whether the tax rates will be made public before licenses are awarded — forcing the bidders to go in blind.

At least one lingering question was cleared up last week, when the commission published long-awaited rules about how long each casino license will last. All licenses will last at least 10 years, but bigger projects are entitled to longer licenses — 15 years if the project’s investment is between $1.5 billion and $5 billion, 20 years if between $5 billion and $10 billion, and 30 years if greater than $10 billion. (The four remaining bids are all between $2.3 billion and $8.1 billion.) You can read more here.

We are not sure how we feel about casinos in NYC but are watching what unfolds.