Four New York City Downstate Bidders Left Standing

What started as a dozen bidders for three potential New York downstate casino licenses has been trimmed to just four after The Coney and Manhattan’s Freedom Plaza projects were voted down by their respective Community Advisory Committees.

Freedom Fails

An ambitious casino resort proposal in Manhattan called Freedom Plaza, led by the Soloviev Group and Mohegan Sun, was recently voted down, 4-2, by the Community Advisory Committee tasked with giving the green light for the project to advance to the state’s five-member Gaming Facility Location Board.

The project called for a 300,000-square-foot underground casino, two hotel towers, 1,325 residential units, of which 1,080 would be permanently affordable, as well as a museum, public park space, retail stores, daycare facilities, and additional amenities.

Ray Pineault, CEO of Mohegan, argued the review process “did not allow for a recognition of the impact we could have had on the broader community of New York and the many individuals who would have benefited from new jobs, housing, and community benefits.”

New York City Mayor Eric Adams had voiced his support for a Manhattan casino, stating in a televised interview before the vote was cast, “Casinos can bring jobs. It can bring stability and tourism. So, I was surprised at some of the negative votes. Let the final process make the decision. We should not be stopping them at this local level.”

Coney Project Doomed

There was more bad news for developers who were hoping to land one of the three coveted downstate casino licenses when the Coney Island Community Advisory Committee cast an identical 4-2 negative vote on the $3.4 billion Coney Island casino project, dubbed The Coney.

The project would have created a 1.4 million square foot facility adjacent to the Riegelmann Boardwalk, replete with a 500-room hotel, a convention center, restaurants, retail stores, and additional amenities.

The project also set aside a $200 million community trust fund and earmarked $75 million for local police, fire, and EMS services if approved.

There are now just four projects competing for a possible three licenses, including Bally’s Bronx, MGM Empire City (Westchester), Hard Rock Metropolitan Park (Queens), and Resorts World New York City (Queens).

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