The town leaders, however, are having none of this. Backed by regional leaders and deeply desirous of the jobs, tourism and municipal improvements that a casino could bring, the town supervisor and others have accused the Amish of allowing themselves to be used as sympathetic props to drum up opposition, exaggerating how threatening the plan would be to their way of life, and overstating their population in Tyre — as well as their importance to it.

“As the old saying goes, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts,” said Ronald F. McGreevy, the supervisor, who campaigned for the casino. He insisted that there were only a few Amish families in Tyre proper, which has a population of about 950. “There is certainly not going to be a mass exodus if this comes to fruition,” Mr. McGreevy said.

Clashes like the one in Tyre — perhaps the most colorful, given the cultural differences in the mix — have broken out across New York as the State Gaming Commission prepares to decide the location of up to four new casinos this fall. Expressions of local support were a requirement for each of the 16 proposals, and applicants have worked hard to demonstrate community ties: hosting job fairs, announcing business and labor partnerships, and trumpeting how residents could benefit. One bidder even promised a town new fire trucks.

Image Inside the farmhouse of Daniel Schwartz, an Amish bishop in Tyre. Credit... Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times

Standing in the way are opponents whose objections are often emotionally charged. Environmentalists are suing to stop a $1.5 billion project from Genting, the Malaysian casino company, over possible damage to a public forest in Tuxedo, in Orange County; leaders in Kiryas Joel, a Hasidic village in Orange County, sued over the feared impacts of two separate casinos; and opponents of a casino in East Greenbush, near Albany, accused leaders there of rigging the process by which its developer won the town’s support.