Civic leaders argue the city is making a losing bet by building a flashy gaming facility at the expense of promised housing with a $12 billion casino planned for Hudson Yards. There is.
Manhattan Community Board 4 has sent a scathing letter to Associated Companies/Wynn Resorts over the proposed facility, saying the developer is not living up to its 2009 promise to build apartments on the West Side.
“MCB4 will review how the Department of City Planning and the Commission will review plans like this that undermine years of sound urban planning and community efforts and replace them with such an anti-urban, anti-New York vision. “It is still a mystery as to whether it could have been considered,” the board said. Letter of April 1st.
The ambitious casino proposal would include an 80-story tower overlooking the Hudson River that would house gaming facilities and a hotel.
Office buildings, high-rise apartment buildings, and a spacious 5.6-acre park surround the glittering skyscraper.
“MCB4 must note that it cannot support a significant transition of the proposed project from residential uses to commercial uses, primarily casino uses,” board members wrote in a statement issued by the affiliate’s chief executive officer ( CEO Andrew Rosen and City Planning Director Dan Galodnick in a 12-page letter.
“MCB4 poses the following questions for both affiliates and New York City: Communities surrounding New York City must work together with the real estate industry and city government to implement zoning changes with detailed site plans and agreements. Why should we respond and agree, when such plans and agreements can be scrapped at a later date?”
CB4 said the existing plan for the Hudson Yards Special District, which was “thoroughly negotiated” in 2009, is mostly residential, with 5,700 apartments and one commercial building integrated into the neighborhood and a high-rise project surrounding the site. It said it would feature public open space connected to Rhine Park. .
The proposed casino plan would reduce the number of planned apartments to 1,507 units.
“Currently, the applicant affiliate is only pursuing casino funding as a means of funding the platform via WRY.” [Western Rail Yards]CB4’s letter, signed by Chairwoman Jessica Chait, states: “We support two oversized commercial towers, including one of the 1,750-key hotels, on a site equivalent to a 20-story base, including a casino. and proposes to amend a non-existent plan,” the CB4 letter states. Jean-Daniel Noland and Paul Devlin share the chair.
“The streets that connect the community will be eliminated…The result will be inward-looking, protected casino-only enclaves, cut off from the surrounding community.”
At the very least, CB4 board members said, the developer should consider scaling down the casino project to one hotel and dedicating the rest of the project to an apartment building rather than an office tower.
A spokesperson for the companies involved said: “We look forward to continuing to work with the community committee as we move forward with this process. We are also announcing a complete community benefits package centered around our investment in the area. I’m especially excited about what we can do.”
“We are proud that our project at Western Yards delivers on all of the commitments made in the original zoning, including affordable housing, 5.6 acres of green open space, and public schools. ”
The homes that would be eliminated to make way for the casino project were to be market-rate or luxury homes, but CB4 officials said the companies involved have in the past taken advantage of real estate tax exemptions and paid “20% off” on developments. It has created 25% more affordable housing.
Neighborhood support is critical in determining which bidders win the right to obtain up to three state casino licenses in the New York City/lower state area.
State gaming regulators plan to award licenses by the end of 2025.
The casino bid must be approved by the state Gaming Facility Siting Board.
The review committee for a particular area where a casino is proposed includes local legislators, state senators and state representatives, borough presidents, mayors, and governors.
Wynn’s proposal and several other projects would also require approval to change zoning to accommodate a casino, so a rigorous and lengthy Uniform Land Use Review would first begin with a community commission through the City Council. It is necessary to go through a procedure.
Aside from the Hudson Yards proposal, other casino projects include Mets owner Steve Cohen’s bid for a project near Citi Field, the So Equities consortium in Coney Island, and the one at Ferry Point in the Bronx. These include Bally’s and Silverstein Properties in Hell’s Kitchen.
Cohen and Barry’s proposal also requires approval of state legislation approved to change the use of their property from parkland to commercial use.
Other local boards have also expressed opposition to backyard casinos, including Brooklyn Commission 13, which covers Coney Island.
Meanwhile, Las Vegas Sands is marketing a casino on the site of the former Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, which has the support of Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and the local Legislature, but has faced local opposition, particularly from neighboring Hofstra University. facing.
