NEW YORK | New York Casino | FT | FLOORS

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Build a Casino on Governor’s Island. Its already rezoned for hotels. Sticking it on the island would satiate the NIMBYs I think. Plus it would make the island more of a destination. Then we could bring into discussion a potential bridge to Red Hook or a gondola to Manhattan.

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Contrary to popular belief every square damn inch of this city does not need to be developed. Governors Island as is a jewel in crown of NYC and a Casino would turn it into a tourist dump. Lets keep that garbage in TSQ.

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I agree that Governor’s Island should not get a casino, or even be considered for one. But 1) Governor’s Island is already developed (under the definition of the word at least, they obviously don’t have a giant office tower on it or anything) and 2) There is nothing wrong with “tourist dumps” as you so call them. It just depends on what you’re doing and how you’re doing it. Though again, a casino would not be good for that Island. Or really most places around, I’d prefer they keep them is a singular area.

  1. I’m clearly aware that GI has buildings on it. Lets not get into semantics here. (I’m definitely in favor of the existing buildings being repurposed for business use as well as the university development that was floated a while back.
  2. We have enough spaces/areas for tourists in the city as is, I said what I said. I’m not willing to sacrifice one of the nicest green spaces in the city for even more commerce ( I say this as someone who is very pro-business, within reason). So as I said prior, TSQ makes the most sense. There is already vibrancy, crowds and amenities in every direction.
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This idea is probably as smart as proposing a stadium in Center City Philly…but we’ll see how it goes

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I assume these casino’s would have to be a part of these districts.

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  1. I’m clearly aware that GI has buildings on it. Lets not get into semantics here. (I’m definitely in favor of the existing buildings being repurposed for business use as well as the university development that was floated a while back.

was there a point of copying a portion of my prior post?

Gov. Kathy Hochul Fast-Tracks Plans for 3 NYC Casinos (therealdeal.com)

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New York City casinos: What to know about the state’s big bet

BY JON CAMPBELL
MAY 1, 2022

Quote:

Like it or not, full-scale casinos are on their way to New York City and the greater metro area.

Earlier this month, Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers fast-tracked the approval process for the state’s final three remaining casino licenses, which are destined for downstate after the first four were reserved for regions north.

Casino operators have had their eye on New York City for decades, and in recent months, more than a handful of major players – including Las Vegas Sands and Hard Rock International – have expressed interest.

Quote:

But it’s still too soon to say exactly where the casinos will go, though New York City Mayor Eric Adams has made clear he’s hoping for multiple facilities.

“We would like to have two in New York City,” he said last month. “I think it would be a great boost for the economy, and we are evaluating what are the best locations."

But ultimately it’s not the mayor’s call – though he will have some say. And critics of casinos and the negative effects of gambling remain, particularly in Manhattan, where local resistance could help keep casinos out.

Quote:

State lawmakers made two major changes to the state’s casino-siting process.

The first requires all casino proposals to follow local zoning rules and procedures. That’s a big deal in New York City in particular, because the law makes clear that the city’s lengthy land-use review process will apply.

That adds another layer of review, requires a public hearing and brings the local community board, borough president, City Planning Commission and, crucially, the City Council into the process.

Quote:

State law requires some show of community support for a particular casino proposal before it’s approved. Under the new version of the law, any casino proposal will trigger the creation of a five- or six-member committee (depending on the location) made up of people appointed by local elected officials. In the city, the mayor, borough president and three local lawmakers – the state senator, state Assembly member and City Councilmember where a casino is proposed – all will get an appointee.

A majority vote would be required to show community support early on in the approval process. Otherwise, the proposal won’t move on to the Gaming Facilities Location Board, a five-member panel appointed by the Gaming Commission that will ultimately award the casino licenses.

To some, the local boards are viewed as a “poison pill” designed to keep casinos out of Manhattan, where many local officials have already expressed opposition. But state Sen. Brad Hoylman – a Manhattan Democrat who says he’s an “ardent skeptic on casinos” – said he will participate with an open mind…

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Per NYguy:

Quotes from Steven Roth on Virnado’s potential casino bid…

Vornado Realty Trust (VNO) Q1 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

By Motley Fool Transcribing
May 3, 2022

Quote:

Steve Sakwa – Evercore ISI – Analyst

Thanks. Good morning. Steve, I was wondering if you could just comment a little bit more about your appetite and desire to still be part of a casino project or licensing agreement. If New York City were able to get one.

I’m just curious if you’re looking to be part of the operations or you’re looking to more be of a landlord. And if it’s on the landlord side, how big of an integrated resort do you ultimately think the winning bid needs to be? Does it need to be hotel rooms and convention space? Or do you think it can just be a stand-alone casino kind of in the heart of Manhattan?

Steven Roth – Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Well, some of the – some of the answers to your questions are at the current time unknowable. This is going to be a political process and there are going to be government officials who are going to make these decisions. With respect to the idea of a casino, we are aggressively pursuing it as we should and as we must. And I’ve said in the last two letters I’ve written that we believe that the – there are going to be three downstate licenses.

We believe that the best place for the third license, one goes to Yonkers, one goes to Aqueduct probably, although that might be contested as well. But we believe that the third license would be best served to go into Manhattan. When you think about it, Manhattan is the center of everything. It’s the center of the hotel industry, the entertainment industry, the restaurant industry, the business industry the theater industry, etc.

And one of the anomalies is while it’s the economic engine of New York by far, the voting population who is of interest and the political leadership, of course, is not necessarily in Manhattan. So that’s an interesting thing. We are in the process of talking to multiple people as our – and the casino industry operators are talking to multiple landowners. We are in the process of debating whether we would be just a land [Inaudible] and that – well, just as an understatement, being a landlord or being part of the operation or being a hybrid, which is a landlord with a kicker or whatever.

So we’re in the throes of thinking about and talking about and debating the financial arrangements. With respect to whether the winning bid, so to speak, would be a small isolated casino or an entire Las Vegas-style complex with hotel rooms, entertainment, food, etc., offerings, I don’t know which is the right one, OK? We believe that we can pursue both of them.

We have multiple sites that we intend to bid with. And for example, if you just take the Penn District, what’s in the middle of the Penn District, Madison Square Garden.

Madison Square Garden is the biggest and most important entertainment complex and certainly in the New York area and maybe far and wide. The interesting thing about Madison Square Garden is in addition to the teams, it has 220 dates a year of concerts. So it’s the center of the music industry as well. And it sits on top of – to our land is adjacent to Madison Square Garden and sits on top of the transportation network, which is interesting.

There’s been some talk about Times Square, which is also interesting, and we have sites there. So this is early days, and we are exploring – we’re working very hard exploring all of the different options. And we expect to try to – we will probably get a resolution as to what direction we are going to go in some time well before the end of the year. We – I think I read one transcript somewhere that somebody thinks that this process is going to be over in the first quarter of next year.

I don’t think it’s going to be anywhere near over, that’s going to take a lot longer than that. As it should. It’s a deliberate process and it’s important. So we believe that Manhattan is the right venue to get the third license.

We intend to compete aggressively for it. And one last thing. We think speed to market or speed of opening is going to be a very important determinant of the economics of the bidders. So if you have to build a new complex, and that could take three, five years or if you’re retrofitting a building that could take one to one and a half years, there are billions of dollars difference in that calculation.

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New York City Casino not Chicago

I would love to see a whole Casino District created in Hell’s Kitchen to bring those operations to New York City in a major way. At least 15-20 major hotels and casinos there, on the scale of the New York Marriott Marquis if not bigger. I would also love to see clusters of 4-5 casinos in each of the outer boroughs.