All three proposed Manhattan bids have now been deleted from the New York casino race, as Freedom Plaza was swiftly rejected in a 2-4 vote by its appointed community advisory committee on Monday morning. The bid fell two votes short of its required two-thirds majority to advance.
It took less than 10 minutes for the CAC to put an end to the $11 billion project, which was the biggest of the eight downstate proposals in terms of size and scope. Located along 1st Avenue near the United Nations headquarters, Freedom Plaza was proposed by Soloviev Group and Mohegan Gaming.
The expansive plans called for a casino, two hotel towers, two residential towers, a so-called Museum of Democracy and much else.
In the end, the final CAC votes were as follows:
- Nichols Silbersack – Yes
- Sandra McKee, chair – No
- Reshma Patel – No
- Celeste Royo – No
- Jennifer Sta. Ines – Yes
- Jasmine Narula – No
With the latest rejection, just five of eight casino proposals in or around New York City remain up for local committees’ consideration. A favourable vote from the committees is required for projects to advance to state consideration for three downstate casino licences to be issued by year’s end. The five remaining committees are to vote by month’s end.
Similar outcomes across Manhattan
After years of work and millions spent, all three Manhattan hopefuls ended up with eerily similar outcomes. All three projects were rejected by 2-4 votes in about 10 minutes each, and none received endorsement from the CAC chairs.
Notably, the CAC members appointed by Governor Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams were the lone supporters of all three projects. The mayor’s representatives came to the first two hearings with statements decrying the rushed nature of the votes, but no such statement was given for Freedom Plaza Monday.
No amendments approved by CACs thus far
Unfortunately for Freedom Plaza, the similarities to its contemporaries went beyond the vote outcome.
As with Caesars and Avenir, a series of last-minute amendments were submitted prior to the vote. In Freedom Plaza’s case, there were several submissions and revisions dated 18, 20 and 21 September. The most recent submission outlined a huge concession by the bidders – commitment to 100% affordable housing on the site. Overall unit count was raised to 1,080, all to be deemed affordable.
This would have been perhaps the biggest concession yet among downstate applicants, if it had been accepted. The Freedom Plaza materials will now be removed from the state’s Gaming Facility Location Board website.
So far, no amendments proposed by bidders have been approved. The only CAC to request amendments of its bidder, Bally’s Bronx, received a response from the company on Friday afternoon but has not scheduled its vote.
While the Avenir’s rejection prompted a heated rebuke from SL Green CEO Marc Holliday, there was a more muted reaction for Freedom Plaza. Per Crain’s reporter Nick Garber on X, there was “applause and some (happy) tears”, but “no outbursts from the developers”.
“I’d like to thank everybody who participated in the process,” said McKee, the committee’s chairwoman. “It’s been a very robust review of all the work that’s been done by the community and the applicants. I vote nay.”
The remaining projects in the New York race and their locations are:
- Resorts World NYC, Queens
- MGM Empire City, Yonkers
- Bally’s Bronx, Bronx
- The Coney, Brooklyn
- Metropolitan Park, Queens
MGM and Resorts World are the next two to face votes, both on Thursday – MGM is at 10am and Resorts World is at 3pm.
Freedom Plaza is now the third New York casino hopeful to come crashing down in less than a week. Manhattan went 0/3 for a licence.