New York City rolls the dice on casino bids in 2024

Published Dec 31, 2023 at 7:01 a.m. ET

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Published Dec 31, 2023 at 7:01 a.m. ET

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New York City can get a brand new park in Corona, a new school in Midtown and much-needed affordable housing over by the U.N. building. All it takes is a few casino licenses.

Billionaires, real estate developers and the world’s biggest gaming companies are vying to open Las Vegas-style casinos in and around New York City, from Throgs Neck to Coney Island.

But the state’s gaming commission is only granting three licenses — and two are likely going to the local “racinos” in Yonkers and Ozone Park, where people already play the ponies and take their chances at the slots.

Mets owner Steve Cohen, the Related Companies, development firm Soloviev Group and other powerful parties are upping the ante, pushing their public relations chips to the middle of the table and pledging perks in exchange for a lucrative license. The groups are preparing their bids and sharing plans, but the state Gaming Commission says final decisions are still a ways off

But applicants will submit their formal applications — and their $1 million application fees — in the coming months, once the commission responds to more than 450 questions submitted by interested parties, said Gaming Commission spokesperson Lee Park.

Now the high-stakes contest for the coveted licenses is reaching into community board meeting halls as well as state legislative chambers. Casino supporters say the payoff will be thousands of new jobs and billions in revenue. Opponents say the facilities lead to higher crime and problem gambling.

Is 2024 the year of the casino?

“I would hope so,” said state Sen. Joseph Addabbo, a Queens Democrat who chairs the racing, gaming and wagering Committee. “New York needs revenue [and] the licenses are sitting on a shelf, collecting dust and doing nothing for our people.”

Sen. Liz Krueger, a Manhattan Democrat who chairs the finance committee, sees it differently. She said job and revenue estimates are overstated, and outweighed by the risks. Five of the proposals are located in and around her Manhattan district and she’s not happy about that.

“Does Manhattan Island need a casino for any reason whatsoever?” Krueger asked. “We’re short of land and desperate for affordable housing and open space, but we can go ahead and do those things without tying them to a casino because we have no purpose for a casino.”

Still, she said, the “horse is out of the barn” and the bureaucratic process is in place to field and approve applications.

Already, Mayor Eric Adams is trying to make it easier for the winning bidders to clear one hurdle. The Department of City Planning is proposing a new rule that would allow casinos to skirt the typical public review process — and facing pushback from community boards.

Once the applications are in, the Gaming Commission will post them online and forward them to six-member Community Advisory Committees appointed by the mayor, governor and local elected officials.

If the CAC votes down the project, it’s dead.

If the committee approves, the application goes before the Gaming Facility Location Board. That board of appointees will examine the applications and issue recommendations to the Gaming Commission, which will make the final licensing decision.

The winning bidders have to pay $500 million to secure the license, but there’s no clear timeframe for that just yet.

“We are still very early in what is, by design, a very long process,” Park said.

But it seems the casinos are coming. Here’s where the companies and developers and already vying for support:

Mets owner Steve Cohen, whose former hedge fund agreed to pay the biggest insider trading penalty in U.S. history in 2016, is competing for one of the licenses. But he faces a unique obstacle: His proposal, dubbed “Metropolitan Park,” requires state legislation to “alienate” city-owned land now occupied by parking lots — essentially unlocking it to allow for new development.

State Sen. Jessica Ramos says she won’t agree to that until she knows the community is on board.

But Cohen is dangling some additional goodies to win approval: The proposal calls for turning 20 of the 50 acres of asphalt into greenspace, reserving the rest for a gambling and entertainment mecca, with a parking garage and food hall to boot.

The owners of the largest patch of undeveloped land in Manhattan say they’ll build housing if they get a casino license.

Soloviev Group announced plans to construct a 1,325-apartment complex, with more than 500 income-restricted units, next to a casino on their empty plot of land between East 38th and East 41st streets, the New York Times first reported.

The large lot along the East River has sat empty for years, even after the owners won a rezoning that allowed them to build new residential towers in 2008.

That agreement required the developers to cap rents for low- and middle-income tenants in 20% of the new units. But nothing ever got built there, despite various proposals.

Soloviev Group CEO Michael Hershman told Gothamist they’ll do more than is required if they get their way.

“If we were to rezone, we would put more affordable housing in than mandated,” he said in an email.

Megadeveloper the Related Companies is partnering with the casino company Wynn on their own casino proposal in Hudson Yards.

The two companies unveiled the very first bid back in 2022. They have since revised their plan to include a 5.5-acre park attached to the High Line, a new public school and a new highrise apartment complex with more than 300 income-restricted units, the New York Post reported in May.

Not far from Hudson Yards, real estate developer Larry Silverstein is pitching another casino proposal at West 41st Street and 11th Avenue.

Silverstein is teaming up with the owner of a Pennsylvania casino on the plan and told the New York Times it’s out-of-the-way enough to not alienate too many neighbors.

Hey, maybe New York City will have three casinos all within a roughly 12-block radius — call it the Gaming District.

Massive gambling company Caesars Entertainment is partnering with SL Green Realty, New York City’s largest commercial landlord, on a plan to bring blackjack and baccarat to Broadway, near West 45th Street.

In a statement to Gothamist earlier this year, Caesars Entertainment CEO Tom Reeg said the casino would be “an economic engine for both Times Square and Broadway.”

But the plan is facing opposition from local residents, community board members and the Broadway League. The theater industry trade group says a casino would keep people behind closed doors and discourage them from exploring local restaurants or taking in a matinee.

“Some of the strongest opposition is coming against that proposal,” Krueger said.

The shrubs spelling out TRUMP in big block letters no longer greet drivers entering the Bronx by way of the Whitestone Bridge. The gaming and entertainment behemoth Bally’s bought the links golf course and rebranded earlier this year.

The company now wants to turn the site into a gambling hub, and is trying to win the hearts and minds of Bronx residents with free bus service from the East Bronx to the NYC Ferry stop, the Bronx Times reported.

Bally’s Golf Links General Manager Brian Crowell said the buses demonstrate the company’s “long-term commitment to the community.”

How about a casino atop a bougie, world-famous department store?

Saks Fifth Avenue’s parent company, Hudson’s Bay Company, released renderings in January depicting a high-end casino with red carpets and a rooftop patio — more Monte Carlo than Mohegan Sun.

Whacking moles with a mallet or throwing darts at a wall of balloons to win a stuffed Minion isn’t enough of a thrill for Thor Equities. The company wants to bring a taste of Atlantic City to Coney Island with Brooklyn’s only casino bid.

“The Coney” would rise behind the famous Wonder Wheel, according to renderings on the proposal’s website.

The plan raises the possibility that New York City might get casinos next to the Mets' home in Queens, as well as the home of their minor league affiliate, the Brooklyn Cyclones.

But a July report from Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso’s office finds local residents aren’t happy about the idea. Reynoso held two public hearings on the proposal and received three negative comments for every piece of favorable feedback, the report states.

Gambling giant Sands wants to clear the former home of the New York Islanders in Uniondale to make way for their next casino. The company even signed a 99-year lease at the site for $4 billion.

But a Nassau judge ruled last month that county officials broke the rules by sidestepping a public review process.

Sands says it’s still committed to the plan, even if it now means a series of hearings.

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David is a reporter covering housing for Gothamist and WNYC. Got a tip? Email dbrand@nypublicradio.org or Signal 908-310-3960.

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

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