NEW YORK — Premier real estate developers and some of the world’s biggest gaming giants have been salivating for years at the chance of opening a blockbuster casino in the heart of New York City.
Decision day is almost here.
Eight proposals are still in the running for a piece of this untapped market — with flashy plans to construct gambling resorts everywhere from Times Square to Coney Island to a Bronx golf course formerly owned by President Donald Trump.
Local committees with the power to sink casino dreams are weighing each of the bids, and the state is expected to award the final licenses to three winners as early as December.
“You’ve only got three shots, and you don’t want just a shiny new penny that five years from now is dull and no one wants to go there,” state Sen. Joe Addabbo, chair of the body’s gaming committee, said in an interview. “You have to make sure it has sustainable revenue that can last for the foreseeable future.”
The high-stakes contest carries enormous economic and budgetary implications for New York and follows a lobbying bonanza that has touched virtually every facet of city and state government. New York is counting on at least $1.5 billion in upfront revenue from the casino licenses to help fund the city’s crumbling subways, and is expecting more money down the line when the facilities are up and running.
The casino sweepstakes is a rare collision of money, politics and power that will shape the future of New York’s economy and civic landscape. The process is the culmination of a two-decade gaming war that began when Atlantic City’s East Coast monopoly collapsed in 2004, unleashing billions in lobbying and deal-making as state after state raced to cash in on the casino boom.
Bidders must win the blessing of city and state politicians, who will decide this month — either directly or through appointees — whether each proposal should advance.
As the firms involved work feverishly to woo these officials, they’re making grand promises to try to sweeten the deal — while sometimes downplaying the gambling operations at the heart of the enterprise.
Here’s a guide to all the dynamics at play — who’s up, who’s down and who’s best positioned to win it all.
It’s Theirs to Lose
Nothing is a done deal, but these three proposals appear to have the best odds.
There are two “racinos” in the New York City area, which currently offer horse racing and slot machines but no live table games like blackjack and poker. Both of them — Resorts World adjoining the Aqueduct Racetrack in southeast Queens and MGM Empire City in Yonkers — are vying for full casino licenses, and they’re considered favorites since they’re known actors and would get up and running faster than the other bids.
Out of the six other proposals, billionaire Mets owner Steve Cohen’s plan at Citi Field seems to have the strongest shot, at least for now.
Metropolitan Park
Developers: Queens Future/Hard Rock International
Cohen and Hard Rock’s foray into the casino competition came with a raft of major obstacles. Not only would they need land-use changes approved by the City Council, they also had to secure the state Legislature’s approval through the obscure “parkland alienation” process. This was required since the proposed site — a parking lot next to the Mets’ stadium — is technically a public park.
Enter Democratic state Sen. Jessica Ramos. She opposed the casino and for years proved virtually impossible for Cohen’s team to win over — a seeming death knell for the plan since the Legislature typically defers to local members on parkland measures.
But the Metropolitan Park team found a workaround in Sen. John Liu, whose neighboring district includes part of the proposal and who ultimately sponsored the alienation bill instead.
Now, out of the non-racino proposals, this project appears closest to cashing in. Cohen is pitching a massive resort across 78 acres that span a vast asphalt parking lot. The bid is promising $3.9 billion in annual revenue by year three, among the highest projections of all the proposals, as well as approximately 6,000 permanent jobs at the complex once it’s completed.
While Ramos, who recently ran a failed bid for mayor, remains opposed to the plan, other local officials like City Council Member Francisco Moya and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards support the bid. All three officials — alongside Assemblymember Larinda Hooks, Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul — have appointees to a local advisory committee evaluating the bid, which is likely to approve Cohen’s plan.
Similar committees are weighing in on the other seven proposals, and must vote in favor of them by the end of September in order for them to advance.
Resorts World New York City
Developer: Genting Group
The expectation among insiders is that the state is almost certain to award a license for Genting Group’s $5.5 billion proposal to expand Resorts World, located in the eastern reaches of Queens, into a full-fledged casino.
The developer has a lot going for them. For one, because Genting already operates a racino at the Aqueduct site, it could start up casino functions much faster on the site than other proposals to build gaming complexes from scratch. If Genting is awarded a license, they plan to establish casino operations by next July and have the entire transformation completed by January 2029.
Genting also has broad support from local elected officials and is expected to sail through its local advisory committee. A key part of their argument is that they’re a known actor: a good neighbor to the community, and a reliable entity to the state.
The immediacy of the project — and quicker timelines for associated jobs and revenue — will surely factor into the state’s deliberations in choosing casino sites. Genting is promising the expansion will more than double its annual revenue from $1 billion currently to $2.2 billion by 2027, with further growth expected once the casino is fully up and running. The proposal would generate 5,000 jobs during construction and another 5,000 direct permanent jobs, according to Genting.
MGM Empire City
Developers: MGM Resorts
The other racino in play, MGM’s Empire City in Yonkers, is also regarded as one of the favorites because it already operates a gambling operation on the proposed site.
The existing gaming facility allows customers to place bets on on-site horse racing, electronic table games and slot machines, which, MGM contends, means the company can quickly expand to include floor space for a full-fledged casino. This would enable them to have an accelerated “speed to market,” one of the factors the state will consider when doling out licenses. Like Resorts World, the project entered into the casino sweepstakes with deep political support.
The bid is the only proposal outside of New York City and the only top contender that does not include a hotel in its proposal.
MGM recognizes its promised total investment falls short of the other bidders, but believes its location just north of the five boroughs will allow the casino to capture the North Jersey market and stop some New Yorkers from choosing to gamble in nearby Connecticut.
“While our total investment of $2.3 billion may be smaller than the public promises made by other license candidates, it is important to recognize differences in geographic markets and to note that our shorter development timeline will result in nearer-term access to valuable tax revenue for the state and faster employment opportunity for our surrounding community,” the gaming company wrote in its application materials to the state.
Long Odds in Manhattan
All three casino proposals in Manhattan have the same major advantage — and the same massive obstacle. The case in favor? A Manhattan casino would likely be the biggest money maker for the cash-strapped state. The biggest hurdle? Manhattan politicians range from skeptical to flat-out hostile to the idea of a gambling facility in their borough.
Caesar’s Palace Times Square
Developers: SL Green; Caesar’s Entertainment; Live Nation; Roc Nation
The crux of the argument from SL Green and its glitzy partners is that the best, and most lucrative, place for a New York City casino is in the heart of its iconic entertainment district.
Times Square is already a magnet for tourists, and this $5.4 billion proposal in an existing SL Green office building would capitalize on that energy, according to the builders. Visitors are far more likely to spend their money in the middle of Manhattan, the developers note, than to trek to the far reaches of Queens, Brooklyn or the Bronx, let alone Yonkers.
SL Green — the city’s largest commercial landlord — is a sophisticated builder with a record of major projects, like the 73-story skyscraper One Vanderbilt near Grand Central Terminal. And Caesar’s, one of the world’s biggest gaming companies, can draw on a trove of loyal customers from across the globe to boost business, the bidders say.
But opposition is fierce, most notably from the Broadway League — which represents theater owners and has voiced staunch objections that will certainly factor into local officials’ verdict. The state senator who represents this district, Liz Krueger, is arguably one of the biggest opponents of gambling in state government, and her committee appointee, former Assemblymember Dick Gottfried, isn’t a fan of casinos either.
The project has a smaller footprint than some of the other bids, but since it involves converting an existing building, it could benefit from a shorter construction timeline — and more immediate tax revenue for the state.
Freedom Plaza
Developer: Soloviev Group; Mohegan
This $11.1 billion proposal would sit right next to the United Nations on the east side of Manhattan, overlooking the East River. It includes some of the flashiest promises — a hotel with one of the “largest infinity pools in the western hemisphere” and a new museum celebrating freedom and democracy. (A giant ferris wheel, however, has since been nixed from the project.)
The bidders are aiming to attract a more upscale clientele with their proposed “luxury resort” — a pitch that could potentially soothe concerns about a casino preying on lower-income bettors who can’t afford to gamble.
The project would also come with two residential towers comprising some 1,000 housing units — a sum less than the amount of housing permitted under a prior rezoning of the site. A member of the local advisory committee fixed on that point during a meeting on the plan in July, and it could become something opponents seize on in fighting the bid — especially since the sky-high cost of housing has become a central theme of New York City’s mayoral contest.
The project faces similar political hurdles as the other Manhattan bids: Officials including Assemblymember Harvey Epstein and state Sen. Kristen Gonzalez have appointed casino skeptics to the local committee weighing in on the plan. And some residents of nearby Murray Hill and Tudor City have raised objections to the casino.
Meanwhile, the site’s proximity to the United Nations could create disruptions in an already high-traffic area — though builders say they have strategies to mitigate this.
The Avenir
Developers: Silverstein Properties; Rush Street Gaming; Greenwood Gaming & Entertainment
Silverstein and its partners are pitching a $7 billion casino complex on the far west side of Manhattan, on a vacant lot near the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel.
They’re billing it as the best possible location in Manhattan — well-connected to draw tourists and the bridge-and-tunnel masses — but still sufficiently out of the way so it will “not displace anyone or anything.” (And, in an apparent dig at the Times Square proposal, developers note the project will “not compete in any way with Broadway.”)
Silverstein — which is one of the city’s premier developers, best known for remaking the World Trade Center after 9/11 — was the last to announce plans to join the casino sweepstakes, and the bid has since flown somewhat under the radar.
While local politicians certainly aren’t thrilled by the prospect of a casino and will be difficult to win over, there’s no singular interest group that has aimed its ire at them — like the Broadway League in Times Square, or Friends of the High Line, which played a major role in sinking a casino proposal from Related Companies at Hudson Yards.
As part of the bid, Silverstein is promising some 2,000 apartments from office-to-residential conversions in the area. This pledge has drawn skepticism from the committee since the buildings where conversions would take place have not yet been identified, though Silverstein has released a map of sites it's evaluating.
The Wild Cards
These two proposals appear more likely to get past the local advisory committees than those in Manhattan, though they still have to contend with community pushback.
Their sponsors are both making similar pitches: that a casino in the Bronx or south Brooklyn could bring much-needed economic stimulus to disadvantaged areas. But they raise other questions, namely: Will people go in droves to the far reaches of Brooklyn and the Bronx to gamble?
Bally’s Bronx
Developer: Bally’s Corporation
Sitting on the shores of the southeast Bronx at the foot of the Whitestone Bridge and a stone’s throw away from the Throgs Neck Bridge, the Bally’s corporation is hoping to convert part of its Ferry Point golf course — formerly owned by Trump’s organization — into a 500,000-square-foot gaming facility. It’s the Bronx’s only proposed casino.
Few bids have had a more difficult path to viability than Bally’s. Just like Steve Cohen’s Citi Field-adjacent Metropolitan Park, Bally’s needed to get special approval from the state Legislature to build a casino on a site that was designated state parkland.
After a protracted yet successful lobbying push to convince state Sen. Nathalia Fernandez to carry the necessary legislation, the bid encountered a surprise stumbling block when the City Council voted in July to reject land use changes needed for the project. But Mayor Eric Adams — whose former chief of staff and campaign attorney are linked to the Bronx project — vetoed the Council’s decision, saving it from extinction. The City Council member who represents the area, Republican Kristy Marmorato, is opposed to the project.
Still, Bally’s has demonstrated its desire to win over local support in remarkable ways: Earlier this year, Bally’s opted to spend about $10 million to save a local all-girls Catholic high school that was financially struggling and set to close its doors. The casino would also offer a free shuttle to its site — a way to combat the relative inaccessibility for those without a car.
The bid is also unique for a different reason — Trump would stand to benefit if Bally’s bid is successful. If it ultimately secures a casino license, the Bally’s Corporation would have to pay the Trump Organization $115 million under the deal it signed to purchase the property.
The Coney
Developers: Thor Equities; Global Gaming Solutions (Chickasaw Nation); Saratoga Casino Development; Legends
The Coney development team’s slogan has become “it just makes sense.” The developers’ argument is that Coney Island has long been a tourist destination but suffers compared to the rest of the city, in part because beach tourism there is so seasonal. The developers contend a year-round casino would provide a much needed jolt of economic development.
Their plan is to build a three-floor casino with over 4,500 slot machines and 230 table games as part of a 1.4 million-square-foot complex that would also include a 500-room hotel, a convention center, 20 restaurants and a 2,400-person venue for shows.
One of the sweeteners is a $200 million “community trust fund” to be governed by, among other people, local elected officials.
Unfortunately for the project, one of the members of the community advisory committee is the casino’s top critic, Marissa Solomon, who was appointed by Republican Assemblymember Alec Brook-Krasny. She used the organizing meeting of the committee in July to harangue the developers with questions about things like the project’s impact on traffic.
Still, the developers are proceeding apace and have as part of their team the family-owned company that runs the Saratoga Springs casino and raceway, and Legends, an entertainment company affiliated with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and the Yankees.
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