Proposals for Times Square, Hudson Yards casinos rejected
Proposals for Times Square, Hudson Yards casinos rejected
TIMES SQUARE, Manhattan (WABC) -- Proposals for two separate casino plans in Manhattan were both rejected by the Community Advisory Committee considering their future on Wednesday morning.
Both the Caesars Palace Times Square and Avenir at Hudson Yards were rejected in separate votes.
Only two members on the six-person committee voted to approve moving either project forward to the state. Four rejected the plan.
"I'm shocked by the result. We're putting forth a project in a location that could really use this type of complex: jobs, housing, a hotel, restaurants - these are all things we heard from the community," said Dino Fusco, COO of Silverstein Properties.
That leaves six competitors bidding for three slots.
The remaining proposed casinos include Coney Island (Brooklyn), Aqueduct Racetrack (Queens), Citi Field (Queens), United Nations/East Side (Manhattan,) Ferry Point (Bronx) and Yonkers Raceway.
One of the proposals involves MGM Resorts - the owner of Empire City in Yonkers.
The casino wants to expand gaming to add live tables by obtaining one of the available licenses, and on Tuesday, Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano says the city council approved a community benefits package followed by overwhelming community support.
The Times Square proposal had been a hot-button issue, especially among the Broadway community.
The building that's currently home to the Minskoff Theater and "The Lion King" would keep the show, but everything above it would have been overhauled to make way for the Caesars Palace if the plan had become a reality.
"This was a vote to protect the magic of Broadway for the one hundred thousand New Yorkers who depend on it for their livelihoods, and for the tens of millions who come from around the world to experience it," said Jason Laks, President of The Broadway League. "A casino can go anywhere, but Broadway only lives here. We are so filled with gratitude for the committee members and the local elected officials-State Senator Liz Krueger, Assembly Member Tony Simone, Borough President Mark Levine and Council Member Erik Bottcher - who looked at the facts, listened to the residents, and stood up for this neighborhood and the theater community."
That includes residents like Dolores Rubin who's lived near Times Square her whole life.
"For me personally, this was really about recognizing that the casino cannibalizes a lot of what's already here, and it takes away from Broadway which is the star of this area," Rubin said.
Jay-Z and his entertainment company Roc Nation was involved in the plan that included a nightclub, almost 1,000 hotel rooms and 150,000 square feet of gaming space.
Developer SL Green had promised the Times Square casino would bring in bring in $7 billion in taxes for the city and state, and hundreds of millions in investments into the neighborhood.
SL Green CEO Marc Holliday blasted the board after the vote.
"What you did here today was a despicable display of cowardice, lack of leadership, lack of consideration for all the people who would benefit from this proposal," Holliday said. "You know it, we met the standard and then some, the only one with courage to stand up is the mayor and governor appointees and everyone else runs and hides. Go run and hide because what you did, the benefits you denied this community, and this city and state, you have delivered that history forever."
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