Three New York City casino proposals have moved yet another step closer to receiving state licenses, after a key state panel gave them a thumbs-up.
However, none of the bids are located in Manhattan, after local opposition derailed the heady ambitions of various developers back in September.
The luckier bids—two in Queens and one in the Bronx— passed their local review stage, which consisted of getting sign-off from an officially-appointed Community Advisory Committee (CAC).Therefore, the Dec. 1 announcement from NYS’s five-member New York Gaming Facility Location Board was essentially an acknowledgment that the CACs had gotten it right.
The projects will now go before the New York State Gaming Commission for a final vote of approval, which is expected to be announced by the end of December.
This now means that a Bally’s casino could be erected at Bally’s Golf Course in the Bronx, a Hard Rock casino could go up next to Citi Field in Flushing Park-Corona, and a Resorts World casino could come to the Aqueduct Racetrack in Jamaica.
As reported on extensively by Straus News at the time, CACs convened in Manhattan had been ultimately unimpressed by the proposals on offer. These included Silverstein Properties “Avenir” (11th Ave.) and Soloviev Group’s Freedom Plaza (1st Ave.), not to mention a Jay Z-endorsed Caesar’s Palace complex for Times Square.
Related Company had also proposed bringing a casino to Hudson Yards, but steadfast community opposition led them to withdraw the proposal before CAC review even began. Related has now recycled some of the proposal’s foundations in their current bid to create a housing complex there, instead, and recently received a key victory to that end from a city zoning body.
Governor Kathy Hochul chimed in on Monday to express her satisfaction with the process.
“The three projects approved today promise to unlock billions in funding for the MTA and create tens of thousands of jobs. It is critical that they keep those promises. I look forward to the Gaming Commission’s review of the Board’s recommendations in the weeks ahead,” she said in a statement.
“I am grateful to Chair [Vicki] Been and the Gaming Facility Location Board for their careful review of the applications according to these high standards,” Hochul added.
Each of the three awardees will pay a $500 million fee to the state if they receive their coveted licenses. The Gaming Facility Location Board also estimates that the projects would collectively generate $13 billion worth of additional state revenues over the next ten years.