Ahead of next week’s Manhattan Community Board 4 (MCB4) Forum and Public Hearing on Casinos, new artwork depicting one of several potential West Side bids has reignited the conversation around the proposals, and their economic and social impact on the Hell’s Kitchen community.
Hudson Yards landlords Related and their casino collaborators Wynn Resorts have released updated renderings of the prospective facility, predicting that the massive complex will attract key tourist dollars to the far West Side. “As the leading designer, developer, and operator of premium gaming resorts in the world, Wynn New York City will attract luxury and aspirational travelers to our destination resort in Hudson Yards,” said Craig Billings, CEO of Wynn Resorts in a press release. “Wynn guests consistently spend more when they travel,” he added. “That results in greater tax revenues for the city and state and more spend in the local community, all with less foot traffic than might be required at other resorts.”
“Hudson Yards has already proven to be an unparalleled catalyst for the New York economy, first through tens of thousands of construction jobs and now as home to the world’s leading companies, retail and housing,” said Related CEO Jeff Blau. “Moving forward with the second phase of development presents an incredible opportunity to double the impact and provide generational benefits to the State, City, and especially our West Side neighbors.”
Casino bigwigs may be placing their bets — but they can’t yet count on a sure win, as developers all over the five boroughs campaign to win one of three “downstate” bids. The bidding procedure requires that local legislators, community boards and the public be given the opportunity to share feedback on the proposals ahead of key review and decision-making by the state’s Gaming Facility Location Board. Here in Hell’s Kitchen, the MCB4 will be holding a Forum and Public Hearing to discuss casino bids on March 19. The New York State Gaming Commission will be presenting and taking questions at the meeting, and the public is encouraged to attend either in-person or remotely and provide feedback. You can register here.
Related —who have proposed adjusting the previous zoning requirements in the Western Rail Yard to accommodate the facility — plan to offer a public town hall later in the month.
What are the current casino bids slated for Midtown West?
As of publication, there are three casino bids within or close to Hell’s Kitchen:
- Developers SL Green have joined forces with legacy casino brand Caesars Palace and Jay-Z-founded entertainment company Roc Nation to propose an eight-story, 250,000 square-foot gaming facility and 950-room hotel at Times Square’s 1515 Broadway. Roc Nation has engaged in a multi-prong campaign to lobby support for the location, including taking out public advertisements entitled It’s Time, Times Square and meeting with residents at nearby Manhattan Plaza.
- Silverstein Properties has proposed a 46-floor, 1.8 million-square-foot project at W41st Street and 11th Avenue at the site of a former Mercedes Benz dealership. Plans for the complex include a 1,000-room luxury hotel, 1,000-seat performance venue, a minimum of 100 units of below-market housing and an eight-story, 600,000-square foot gambling and entertainment center that features 12 full-service restaurants and a gallery showcasing local artists.
- Related recently revealed plans for a n 80-story casino, hotel and conference space at W33rd Street and 11th Avenue. The 2.7 million-square-foot lot would also contain six acres of public space, retail and restaurants, an office tower, a public school, and a 1,507-unit apartment building with 324 below-market units.
There are also two other Midtown bids in play: a casino at Saks Fifth Avenue from Hudson’s Bay and a facility tentatively titled the Freedom Plaza casino and apartment complex near to the United Nations building, proposed by the Soloviev Group. In addition to the five Manhattan bids, there are several additional borough, Long Island and Westchester-based applicants, including bids for facilities at Citi Field in Queens, Coney Island in Brooklyn, the site of the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, the site previously housing the Trump Links golf course in the Bronx and two “racinos” in Queens and Yonkers.
What happened at the most recent casino-focused town hall?
On February 22, State Senator Liz Krueger — whose district includes the proposed Times Square casino as well as the potential Saks 5th Avenue site — hosted a public town hall entitled “The Impact of Casinos on Urban Communities” to address community concerns around the potential bids. Krueger, who was joined by fellow state senators Kristen Gonzalez, Brad Hoylman-Sigal, as well as assemblymembers Harvey Epstein and Linda Rosenthal, told the audience that “I have been very clear for many years — I oppose casinos, and gambling in general. I find it to be a tax on desperation with no societal benefit and real prices to be paid,” she added. “And as they often say, only the house wins.” Senator Gonzalez told the audience that after holding other public feedback sessions her office had decided to officially oppose the Freedom Plaza casino, while Hoylman-Sigal told the town hall that casinos “could bring tax revenue for the city and state for our public schools, but we know that casinos also pose the risks that were discussed around social costs that our communities will have to bear. And we should go into this discussion and this debate with our eyes wide open.”
First up was a presentation from Gaming Facility Location board member Vicki L Been on the approval procedure. In it, she outlined the process, in which the Gaming Facility Location Board is currently reviewing a second round of questions submitted by the potential applicants. Once the board releases their answers, the bidders must file their full applications within 30 days.
A six-person Community Advisory Committee (CAC) must then hold open hearings to “gauge public support or opposition” as well as take a formal vote regarding each proposal in a public meeting. There must be a ⅔ majority for a project to move forward to the Gaming Facility Location Board. The CAC for each of the West Side bids comprises Governor Kathy Hochul, Mayor Eric Adams, Senator Hoylman-Sigal for the Hudson Yards and Silverstein 11th Avenue proposals and Senator Liz Krueger for the Times Square bid, Councilmember Erik Bottcher, Assemblymember Tony Simone and Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine.
Any proposals approved by the respective CACs will go before the five-person Gaming Facility Location Board, consisting of Been, Quenia Abreu, Carlos Naudon, Stuart Rabinowitz and one member yet to be selected by Governor Hochul. The applicants must then complete any required zoning approvals through the local community board’s land use committees. If applicants are able to make it through both the CAC and the zoning process, the Board will then award up to three licenses in “downstate” New York.
While the Mayor has proposed a rule change allowing casinos to bypass the standard land use review process known as ULURP, Manhattan’s Community Board 4 has joined several other potentially affected districts (including Times Square’s Community Board 5) in opposing the rule change. “MCB4 does not support the proposed citywide zoning text amendment to allow gaming facilities as a permitted use in certain commercial and manufacturing districts since the proposal eliminates the standard public review process through ULURP, a mandate of the 1975 NYC Charter amendment,” reads a January letter from MCB4 to the City Planning Commission. “The community review process is part of the mandate for a Community Board, and in eliminating this process, the City is also eliminating the community’s ability to voice its needs. ”
Additional presenters at Krueger’s town hall included Lucy Dadayan, Principal Research Associate with Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center who presented an analytical breakdown of casino revenues in other cities and states — notably, showing a drop in other New York state casino tax revenues between 2019 and 2023. Executive Director Les Bernal of non-profit advocacy organization Stop Predatory Gambling presented an argument against gaming facilities as depleting citizen finances rather than creating local jobs.
“We are told one of the primary rationales for local casinos is to ‘create jobs’,” said Bernal, “but facts show that casinos leave behind far more gambling addicts than jobs. According to numbers made available by the Illinois Gambling Board, the total enrollment of citizens in the state’s voluntary Self-Exclusion Program was almost 35% higher than the amount of people who work at the state’s 10 casinos.”
Bernal added, “Thousands more gambling addicts have banned themselves from the state’s casinos because their lives have been ruined than there are people who work inside the state’s casinos. But that figure is literally the tip of the iceberg. The actual amount of gambling addicts created by state sanctioned casinos is far greater than the number of citizens who have self-excluded. That’s because only about 10% of people experiencing problems with gambling seek help from problem gambling services — 90% never even come forward for help.”
Producer Tom Kirdahy of The Broadway League also spoke against casinos, arguing that the competition created by a gaming facility would further threaten Broadway’s post-COVID 19 financial challenges. “Broadway is coming back after a pandemic and there is a deep concern in my community that by permitting a casino in the Times Square area, we would be welcoming a cannibalistic entity into the community,” said Kirdahy. “Unlike film and television, Broadway is singular. It exists in one place in the Times Square area. People come from all over the world to see Broadway shows. We are known as a Theater District. Anything that could dilute from that can be damaging to what is a fragile community and a unique community.”
What’s next?
In addition to the upcoming public hearings, the Gaming Facility Location Board is currently in the process of reviewing applicant-submitted questions. Once those answers are released, applicants will have 30 days to file and the local CACs will begin the public meeting process before any bids are finalized.
A nightmare on all levels.
NYC’s dystopian future.
And just unbelievable to insist that Congestion Pricing is needed because there is congestion – and then keep adding congestion.
At this rate might as well turn the Metropolitan Museum of Art into a NASCAR venue, Central Park into space for street vendors…..
you will pay congestion pricing. stop complaining.
Thank God I was here in the 60s 70s etc and can remember The Beautiful Theater District and Broadway!
Wasn’t there supposed to be a school and affordable housing in Hudson Yards? What happend to that?
I accidentally hit post before I finished writing my comment. Yes, there absolutely was supposed to be a school and affordable housing. Our government officials allowed Hudson Yards to keep putting it off and putting it off so they built everything else first and then dropped their requirements at the end by declaring bankruptcy. It is sickening.
They are both still in the proposal, but only because Related knows they don’t stand a chance without them. Still, they have a public school on the ground floors of an office building, across the way from a casino. Ingenious. They are also maintaining the number of affordable units, but decreasing the number of housing units overall.
But look, Related is out to make a profit. I get where they are coming from. Why would the Borough President, who was elected to represent the people, suggest taking the people out of the review process? How much is Related donating to Levine to have him suggest bypassing ULURP?
Agreed a total nightmare. NO ONE seems to care about the communities and people who actually live here and pay taxes. All they are seeing are dollar signs….money stolen from the vulnerable. This madness needs to stop, we need growth and development that supports our neighborhoods not crap that will further destroy any sense of community. Want a casino at Saks or at the UN – go for it. I understand Coney Island would love one. Hell’s Kitchen does not need this – we are already going to have to contend with 15 years of disruption due to the new bus terminal. Please stop!
If a casino is what you want to do, I think an outer borough is more the place.
In addition to bring more car/bus traffic and pollution, the casino would also bring more helicopter traffic to the West 30th Street Heliport, something many people in New York and New Jersey are trying to eliminate due to its noise and air pollution.
Some things that raise tax revenue have residual effects that cost more than the tax revenue can offset.
It’s absolutely ridiculous. No matter what is promised, they won’t deliver. The only thing they want is a casino. HK was promised AFFORDABLE housing at 54th & 9th in return for Hudson Yards. We are barely getting any at that site. They are putting in congestion pricing because “there are too many cars on the road” yet want a casino in Times Square? That’s hypocrisy. How do they expect people from outside NYC to get in to go to the casino? Enough already. There will not be enough tax revenue to offset the damage they will be doing to everyone’s lives.
The casino should be built in Times Square, hard stop. It’s a good location for it. Hudson Yards doesn’t need it and the residents don’t want it there.