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NYguy

Apr 5, 2024 5:40 PM

Quote:

Executives from The High Line have also written to say that they would like to see “the preservation of key sight lines” from their park and “a space free from buildings that unnecessarily encroach and overwhelm it.”

taigatrommelchen

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...88181bba_b.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...48f441f5_h.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f3b7645e_h.jpg

NYguy

Apr 18, 2024 5:47 PM

https://www.northjersey.com/story/ne...s/73360837007/

Casinos at Hudson Yards, Citi Field? Atlantic City casinos see a major threat

Daniel Munoz
April 18, 2024

Quote:

A New Jersey casino executive and the state’s top gaming lobbyist said during a major casino conference Wednesday that a New York City casino could be a “threat” to the gambling industry in New Jersey.

Those remarks by Mark Giannantonio — president of Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City and president of the trade group the Casino Association of New Jersey — echoed similar remarks made by a top gaming executive last year.

Quote:

” They’re going to be Las Vegas-style massive properties and they will generate new business — of course people coming up from South America, Europe, Asia,” Giannantonio told reporters after a panel hosted by the East Coast Gaming Congress at Hard Rock in Atlantic City Wednesday.

“It’s also going to impact eastern Pennsylvania, Atlantic City, Connecticut," he said.

Quote:

New York Mets owner Steve Cohen is lobbying state officials for his plans to build an $8 billion casino with Hard Rock near Citi Field in Queens. Sands has plans for a sprawling casino resort on Long Island, having already completed a long-term lease purchase of property at the site of the Nassau Coliseum.

Meanwhile, Wynn Resorts and developer Related Cos. are partnering with plans for a $12 billion casino at the Hudson Yards area in Manhattan along the Hudson River.

Another casino has been proposed for Times Square, and another on the East Side close to the United Nations world headquarters.

“If it ends up in Manhattan, either Hudson Yards, Times Square or the East Side, it’s going to be fairly devastating, I think, for Atlantic City,” said David Naczycz, executive director of the Fintech and Sports Wagering Innovation Center, based out of Jersey City.

A casino elsewhere in the New York metro area, such as Queens, would be less impactful for Atlantic City, he said.

“The trip from Montclair to far east Queens is just as bad as the trip down to Atlantic City, and there’s more tolls,” Naczycz said.

NYguy

Apr 18, 2024 10:39 PM

https://therealdeal.com/new-york/202...y-for-casinos/

City Council approves zoning change to greenlight casinos
Limited-time text amendment removes one hurdle in the process

By Kathryn Brenzel
April 18, 2024

Quote:

One hoop down, several left to jump through

The City Council on Thursday signed off on a zoning text amendment that will remove one hurdle for companies vying for three downstate casino licenses.

The change simply allows a gaming facility to open in manufacturing and commercial districts, something that is not currently permitted under the city’s zoning rules. The amendment is tailored to the current competition, only applying to applications filed for a casino before June 25, 2025.

The City Planning Commission and members of the City Council framed the text amendment as a way to “level the playing field” for casino contenders. It ensures that the Council can’t, on its own, kill a proposal, though it will have sway on other zoning changes needed for some bids and local members will still have a say as part of the state’s approval process.

The change saves casino proposals from going through a separate land use review process to merely exist, even if they include a hotel, which now requires a special permit. The change would also help avoid duplicative and lengthy environmental reviews at the city level before beginning the state process.

Quote:

Ahead of the vote, Council member Kalman Yeger, one of 15 members who voted against the action, characterized the text amendment as a “blank check to applications that we have not reviewed.” He questioned why the council would willingly give up authority over a land use issue.

Some casino proposals already require separate city and state approvals outside the casino application process. Related Companies needs the city to approve zoning changes for its site at Hudson Yards. Steve Cohen’s Willets Point plan and Bally’s proposal in the Bronx are on parkland and require state legislative approval to remove that designation.

NYguy

Apr 22, 2024 12:53 AM

More news from the moron contingent, aka CB4…

https://nypost.com/2024/04/21/us-new...tting-slashed/

Quote:

”Now, the applicant, Related Companies, solely in pursuit of casino dollars as a means to fund the platform over the WRY [Western Rail Yards], proposes to amend that plan out of existence in favor of 2 oversize commercial towers, one of a hotel with 1,750 keys, sitting on the equivalent of a 20-story base containing a casino,” said the CB4 letter, signed by chairwoman Jessica Chait and co-land use chairs Jean Daniel-Noland and Paul Devlin.

“ Streets connecting the community will be eliminated… The result will be an inward looking, protected enclave for an inward focused casino, disconnected from the surrounding community.”

In the very least, the developers should consider shrinking the casino project to one hotel with the balance of the project dedicated to apartment buildings instead of office towers, CB4 board members said.

A Related Companies spokesman said, “We are looking forward to continuing to work with the Community Board as this process moves forward – and we are specifically excited to unveil our full community benefits package which is centered around investment in this neighborhood.

“We are proud that our project on the Western Yards will deliver on all of the pledges made in the original zoning including affordable housing, 5.6 acres of green open space, and a public school.”

The housing eliminated to make way for the casino project was planned to be market rate or luxury units — though CB4 officials said Related Companies has tapped real estate tax exemptions in the past to generate “20% to 25%” affordable housing in its developments.

ChiND

Apr 22, 2024 3:21 AM

These idiots make me nauseous.

Are their conclusions merely advisory, or can they actually block projects?

NYguy

Apr 22, 2024 3:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChiND (Post 10189714)

These idiots make me nauseous.

Are their conclusions merely advisory, or can they actually block projects?

They’re always just advisory (and for good reason). But now they’re rabid about the luxury housing. Which almost no one demands. The affordable units will be the same as they have always been. But instead of these idiots asking for an increase in affordable units, they’re just demanding that the luxury units be built. They’re not even all out against a casino. They don’t want the office tower to be built.

Keep in mind this is not part of the casino approval process (that comes later), just the change of programming in the site plan.

ChiND

Apr 22, 2024 11:25 AM

Thanks. These morons are truly annoying.

NYguy

Apr 22, 2024 12:51 PM

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/22/n...ice-space.html

How Hudson Yards Went From Ghost Town to Office Success Story
The vacancy rate at Hudson Yards’ office towers is considerably lower than in the rest of Manhattan, though its luxury housing and retail offerings have been less successful.

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024...ale&width=1200

By Matthew Haag
April 22, 2024

Quote:

It was March 2019, and 13,000 people were on Manhattan’s West Side at a star-studded opening ceremony for the largest private real estate project in United States history: Hudson Yards.

A year later, the development was a ghost town.

Shops were closed and offices emptied; the coronavirus pandemic had walloped the corridor of luxury skyscrapers, high-rises and retail near the Hudson River that rose atop a mix of rail yards and parking lots. The roughly $30 billion planned neighborhood looked like it had fizzled before it ever got started.

But now, five years after that grand opening, Hudson Yards has not only survived, but it has also emerged as perhaps the most dominant office market in New York City, a bright spot as companies across the country cut space in the shift to remote and hybrid work. The neighborhood’s glass-and-steel towers have attracted some of the most valuable companies in the world — including BlackRock, Pfizer and Ernst & Young — to pay some of the highest rents in the country.

Quote:

The remarkable turnaround has even won over some of the project’s loudest critics, who had bemoaned the neighborhood as a soulless, inauthentic enclave for the wealthy whose developers received generous property-tax breaks. Skeptics had also predicted that area — bounded by Eighth and 12th Avenues from West 30th to West 42nd Street — was too out of the way for New Yorkers.

Brad Lander, the New York City comptroller, was among those critics. But now? “I got it wrong,” he said.

The success of the office market at Hudson Yards stands in contrast, though, to the other main components of the project, luxury housing and a multistory mall, which have not fared as well. It has also laid bare the widening chasm between the fortunes of the city’s few very-high-end office towers, including those around Grand Central Terminal, and the woes of everyone else.

Quote:

In Hudson Yards, vacancy is under 10 percent, and several buildings are fully occupied. At one building, 50 Hudson Yards, the only available space is on the top floors, with an asking price of more than $200 per square foot per year, almost triple the city average.

The Hudson Yards buildings are largely filled with companies that have mandated a return to the office, and Related Companies, the main developer of Hudson Yards, said that foot traffic at the mall in 2023 had nearly returned to 2019 levels. Employee attendance often exceeds 80 percent on Monday through Thursdays, according to the businesses and developers: similar to rates before Covid and nearly double the rate of other office buildings in the New York City region that are tracked by Kastle Systems.

When the area opened, Mr. Lander worried that the property-tax breaks on new buildings — up to a 40 percent reduction for 20 years — were an unnecessary giveaway to developers. But, he said recently, the development was on track this year to contribute about $300 million more in tax payments than projected to the city’s coffers.

Quote:

Several major companies that have moved to Hudson Yards said that its modern, gigantic office buildings offered advantages over most Manhattan buildings. Until recently, BlackRock, the asset management giant, had 4,000 employees spread over 31 floors in three buildings in Midtown East. Now they are on 15 continuous floors in Hudson Yards.

Ruth Colp-Haber, chief executive of Wharton Property Advisors, a real estate brokerage, said Hudson Yards illustrated the growing divide between the top office towers, known as trophy buildings, and the rest. In Hudson Yards, asking rents can start in the low $100s per square foot per year and skyrocket; the Manhattan average is around $70.

“The majority of tenants cannot afford half this rent,” Ms. Colp-Haber said. “For the very rich companies, they have no problem with this rent, and they are thrilled to be able to move their companies there.”

Quote:

In the 2010s, when Related was in the early stages of building Hudson Yards, company executives believed that its offices would lure companies but that the real moneymakers would be retail, notably its mall and its luxury condominiums. But the script flipped.

Developers have built several luxury apartment buildings, all of which are full or near it. While they include some below-market-rate units, most one-bedroom rentals start around $6,000 a month, far above the city average.

But the luxury condominiums have not performed as well, selling at about half the rate of other condo towers in Manhattan, according to Jonathan J. Miller, the president of Miller Samuel Real Estate Appraisers and Consultants.

Representatives for Related disputed that assessment and said the developer’s own data showed that the buildings were among the top-selling condo towers in the city.

Quote:

The weaker-than-expected condo sales have led Related to reduce the number of luxury units it plans to build in the neighborhood’s last undeveloped tract. The firm wants to create nearly 1,950 fewer residences there than initially planned, though it still plans to build 324 affordable rentals, as it promised city leaders in an agreement from 2009.

“In this day and age, there is a desperate need for more housing,” said Jeffrey LeFrancois, the former chairman of the local community board.

The Shops & Restaurants at Hudson Yards mall opened with a slate of very high-end retailers, anchored by a three-story Neiman Marcus, which signed a 50-year lease as malls nationwide were struggling. But the department store filed for bankruptcy and moved out of the mall in 2020. That space is now being converted into offices for Wells Fargo.

Quote:

The pivots in the housing plans and at the mall are part of Related’s ongoing changes at the development. Recently, the firm rolled out its vision for the last undeveloped area in the neighborhood: a casino and resort. And later this year, the company plans to reopen the Vessel, the 150-foot tall spiraling staircase that was closed off to visitors in 2021 after four people had jumped to their deaths. Floor-to-ceiling steel mesh is being installed as a safety barrier.

NYguy

May 8, 2024 1:50 PM

https://igamingbusiness.com/finance/...ter-record-q1/

Wynn talks up New York and Thailand plans after record Q1

8th May 2024
By Robert Fletcher

Quote:

…..Billings also hinted at further expansion for Wynn, referencing potential launches in both New York and Thailand. New York looks to be the first possible new market for Wynn, with the operator considering an integrated resort in Hudson Yards. However, like other parties interested in New York, Wynn will have to wait until 2025 until a decision is reached on new casino licences in the state.

“We believe a full-scale Wynn integrated resort will drive meaningful incremental tax revenue, tourism and employment in the state,” Billings said. “Despite the elongation of the RFA submission process in New York, we remain intrigued by the prospect of a Wynn resort in Manhattan.”

ChiND

May 9, 2024 2:58 AM

The City should eliminate many lanes of traffic and landscape them dramatically. They should make it an area that people want to live in. This area has enormous potential.

https://a4.pbase.com/o12/06/102706/1...ic0317242b.jpg
NYGuy

mrnyc

May 10, 2024 12:25 AM

^ yeah thats an awful car sewer strip. it needs some lanes taken out and reconfigured for peds, bikes and busses. of course it will be very different when the western yards get built out, but it doesnt help that the already developed section completely turns it back. the open, but elevated section leading up to the vessel and mall from there is a very awkward afterthought.

NYguy

May 29, 2024 2:53 AM

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/arti...t-runners.html

Eleven rivals. Countless billions. One prize: the right to build a casino in the heart of New York.

By Noah Shachtman

Quote:

Jay-Z is pushing to get it. Nas wants a piece. The owner of the Mets is spending a fortune to win. A subsidiary of the Yankees is trying, too. Manhattan’s biggest commercial landlord is all-in. The Hudson Yards crew wants it, and so does the man behind Coney Island. A former police commissioner is wrapped up in this. And a former governor. And Eric Adams’s closest confidant. And the guy who owns Donald Trump’s old golf course. And the head of a private intelligence firm.

What they’re all after is a downstate New York casino license — “a license to print money, literally,” as one insider close to several of the bidders puts it.

Quote:

New Yorkers may be used to grandiosity, to shrugging at a new skyscraper like it’s another foothill in a mountain chain. The casino deal is different. The opportunity is so gargantuan that the bidders are promising, almost as add-ons, to spend billions to solve some of the city’s most challenging engineering feats and to build concert halls, apartment towers, science centers, public schools, parks, even a museum of democracy. These are projects that would ordinarily merit headlines all on their own. In this contest, they’re mere loss leaders. A license to operate a casino in or directly outside New York City is worth almost any investment. “Even one of these bids would be one of the biggest land-use battles in the history of New York, and we’ve got five right here in Manhattan,” says Mark Levine, the borough president.

Quote:

.....some of the best-positioned competitors for the final casino license are in Manhattan. Consider the bid out of Hudson Yards. The site is already somewhat Vegas-y, in the sense it’s a synthetic, air-conditioned megadevelopment built in the middle of nowhere. Like the Bellagio, it already has a Cartier, a Fendi, and a Dior.

Related Companies, which built Hudson Yards, is offering to partner with Wynn Resorts to spend a reported $12 billion to essentially double the size of the complex, starting with the construction of a $2 billion deck to cover the open rail yards between 11th and 12th Avenues.

On top, Related wants to erect an 80-story skyscraper to hold a casino and 1,750 hotel rooms, a second tower with 1,500 apartments, and a third structure with 2 million square feet of office space and a school for 750 students. Plus a green area the size of Bryant Park. If the state gaming board prioritizes bids by capital investment, this is one with plenty.

One elected official calls it “an objectively strong bid with objectively serious political opposition.” The local community board recently released a public letter attacking the proposal, noting that the number of planned apartments is less than a third of the 5,700 units Related initially promised to construct at Hudson Yards in 2009.

But political opposition may not be absolute. Related claims that the project will create 35,000 temporary construction jobs and another 5,000 permanent ones — all union. The firm wields so much influence that an operative working for a rival calls it a “shadow government.” They mean it as a compliment.

New York’s other obviously Vegas-like destination is, of course, Times Square. And the bid based there, from the developer SL Green, may provide the clearest indication of the scale of change that a casino could bring to New York. Both advocates and opponents of the project believe it has the potential to remake the city’s tourist mecca on an order not seen since City Hall went after its porno theaters in the 1980s and ’90s and reinvented it as a zone safe enough for an M&M flagship store.

ChiND

Jun 16, 2024 1:07 AM

If Wynn/Related prevail, as they should, placing the SS United States across from the HY would be a great for everyone.

https://maritime-executive.com/artic...-united-states

https://maritime-executive.com/media...h_Overhead.jpg

NYguy

Jun 18, 2024 4:37 PM

As those in charge continue to fumble the progress of New York casinos, Wynn gets it’s other supertall casino rising.

https://www.cardplayer.com/poker-new...or-development
https://media.cardplayer.com/assets/...tion_Photo.jpg

Quote:

The company is building a hotel and residential in the area. “Everyone is there in anticipation that RAK’s tourism will grow rapidly with the casino. It’s about the gaming, the shows, the hotels. You’re essentially bringing a mini-Vegas to Ras Al Khaimah.”

But lets keep wasting time on NIMBYs and fearmongers.

NYguy

Jun 24, 2024 5:24 PM

ChiND

Jun 24, 2024 5:29 PM

Great photos.

10th Ave, like 11th, needs a serious road diet and more greenery. Three lanes would be more than adequate.

https://a4.pbase.com/o12/06/102706/1...C.IMG_7868.JPG

NYguy

Jul 10, 2024 1:22 PM

Morons.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/10/n...son-yards.html

Supporters of the High Line Aim to Block Plan to Build a Casino Nearby
The nonprofit organization that steers the popular greenway attraction on Manhattan’s West Side says building a casino in Hudson Yards could harm parkgoers’ experience.

By Stefanos Chen
July 10, 2024

Quote:

A plan to build a casino over a sprawling rail yard on Manhattan’s Far West Side has a new, formidable opponent: parkgoers.

Friends of the High Line, an influential nonprofit that operates the nearby 1.5-mile rail-line-turned-park, said Wednesday that it will muster supporters to attempt to thwart the development plan. The opponents of the casino proposal said the development would block views of the city from the High Line and create gusty winds and cast long shadows that could hurt local businesses.

The proposal, submitted in February, would also create a 1,180-foot apartment tower, a 1,376-foot office building, a public school and day care. The development, in Hudson Yards, is being led by Related Companies, which built the eastern half of the site, and Wynn Resorts, a Las Vegas gambling giant. The project could be completed by 2030.

Quote:

But the biggest sticking point is a plan to build a podium as tall as 200 feet near the westernmost section of the High Line, on which the developers will build a casino and a skyscraper with 1,750 hotel rooms.

Alan van Capelle, the park group’s executive director, likened the over 200,000-square-foot, 20-story podium to six Costco warehouses stacked on top of each other.

“This will gravely endanger the High Line experience,” Mr. van Capelle said on a recent morning from a sunny strip of the park, where he says visitors could soon be staring at a wall instead of the city skyline.

Quote:

A spokeswoman for Related said in a statement that the developer had met with the High Line group several times this year and had “made substantive changes to our plans in response to their concerns, after which they did not raise additional issues with us.” The revised plan will still include 5.6 acres of public green space and will generate thousands of union jobs, she said.
“It is now evident they simply do not want new development in their backyard, no matter the obvious economic, housing and community benefit it will bring,” she said.

Quote:

But the concerns of the park could pale in comparison to the economic benefits of Related’s development plan, said Gary LaBarbera, the president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, which represents unionized construction workers.

“We’re talking about tens of thousands of construction and permanent jobs,” he said.

The developers’ desire to include a casino on the 13-acre site reflects how lucrative New York’s untapped gambling market could be. At least 11 bidders are vying to build a casino in the New York City area, and Related has made one of the most ambitious proposals, estimating that its project will cost $12 billion.

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024...ale&width=1200

ChiND

Jul 10, 2024 2:32 PM

I’d like the nudges who complain about everything would leave NY. Do you recall the insane opposition to Little Island Park?

NYguy

Jul 10, 2024 4:19 PM

They will always be against everything. If the state threatened to revive the stadium here, suddenly the NIMBYs would be talking about how lovely a casino would be.

NYguy

Jul 12, 2024 3:06 PM

https://commercialobserver.com/2024/...nies-chairman/

Stephen Ross Steps Down as Related Companies Chairman
He’s founded a new development firm in West Palm Beach

BY JULIA ECHIKSON
JULY 11, 2024

Quote:

The leadership structure of Related Companies, the New York-based development firm best known for building the 27-acre Hudson Yards, remains intact. Ross’s longtime deputies — CEO Jeff Blau, President Bruce Beal Jr., and COO Kenneth Wong — are staying put in their roles.

NYguy

Jul 12, 2024 7:56 PM

NYguy

Jul 13, 2024 3:03 AM

More of this nonsens...

https://focusgn.com/opposition-mount...asino-proposal

Opposition mounts against Wynn NYC casino proposal
The proposal includes plans for a 1,180-foot apartment tower

07/12/24

Quote:

Alan van Capelle, executive director of the nonprofit, said the proposed 200-foot skyscraper near the western end of the High Line would look like stacked Costco warehouses and obstruct views.

Critics also argue that the casino would generate strong winds and cast long shadows that could negatively impact on local businesses.

https://www.playny.com/high-line-lau...rn-rail-yards/

Quote:

The High Line, a nonprofit organization and a public park in Manhattan, launched a campaign this week to ensure that the Wynn New York City project on the Western Rail Yards essentially does not happen.

In a press release, High Line noted that its campaign would make sure that any development “protects the iconic nature and experience” of the area.

The Wynn casino proposal, however, “would negatively impact the experience of millions of visitors and obstruct important and iconic views from the High Line.”

Quote:

According to the release, “scores of community leaders and grassroots supporters” have joined the campaign, including co-op board members, block association presidents, and tenant leaders.

Sally Greenspan, president of the Council of Chelsea Block Associations, underscored the “serious housing crisis” faced by Chelsea, one that will not be solved with the proposed Wynn New York City project that will feature an 80-story hotel tower with the gaming facility, another tower for apartments, and a third tower for offices, all surrounding a 5.6-acre park.

“Chelsea needs more housing, not more office space and CCBA opposes the potential inclusion of a casino,” Greenspan said in the press release. “CCBA supports the Protect the High Line campaign to get the Rail Yards plan back on track.”

NYguy

Jul 15, 2024 12:41 AM

Related feels pretty good about the bid...

https://nypost.com/2024/07/14/busine...adison-avenue/

Quote:

Related Companies to build 1,200-foot skyscraper on Madison Avenue

By Steve Cuozzo
Published July 14, 2024

Although it might seem to put Blau on the political hot seat as Related tackles the challenge of winning state approval for a casino license at Hudson Yards, Blau characterized it as essentially a “formality.”

...the most ambitious item on Related’s Big Apple agenda is its proposal to build a 3 million-square-foot, Wynn-branded casino resort on Hudson Yards’ still undeveloped western side.

Blau couldn’t contain his enthusiasm for Related’s $12 billion plan to finally build out the entire western yard.

“It certainly doesn’t get any bigger than this,” Blau said. As The Post first reported last summer, the resort skyscraper would contain a 250,000 square-foot casino, a 1,700-key hotel and twenty restaurants.

The western yard plan also includes a two million square-foot office tower, a one million square-foot apartment tower to include 324 affordable units, a new public school and a near 6-acre public park – “larger than Bryant Park,” Blau said.

But it’s up to the New York State Gaming Facility Location Board, which expects to select a winning proposal of ten-odd submissions for a casino license in New York City by the end of 2025.

State officials are eager to see the completion of Related’s entire 26-acre Hudson Yards site. But other casino-partnership proposals also promise extensive neighborhood benefits.

He downplayed recent objections by Friends of the High Line over the height of a podium on which the casino/hotel tower would stand, saying Related has met with the group ten times in the past year and made modifications to the design.

ChiND

Jul 15, 2024 7:51 PM

It’s good news that Related is confident. Their proposal is incredible.

Doubleu1117

Jul 16, 2024 12:06 AM

It's a good bid, and it doesn't hurt that I'm sure the state would love to put a nice bow on Hudson Yards and this get's that done. Should easily be 1 of the 3 selection.

NYguy

Jul 16, 2024 12:15 AM

^ It should be, especially if they're following their own criterial. But never underestimate the foolishness of people who are empowered to make decisions.

ChiND

Jul 20, 2024 2:32 AM

The Wynn tower reminds me of the proposed Tribune tower.

https://www.casino.org/news/wp-conte...es-302x200.jpg
Casino.org

https://images.skyscrapercenter.com/...cim-group2.jpg

Skyscrapercenter.org

NYguy

Jul 23, 2024 2:49 AM

https://nypost.com/2024/07/22/us-new...ne-experience/

West Side pols oppose Hudson Yards casino they fear would ‘alter’ the High Line ‘experience’

By Carl Campanile
July 22, 2024

Quote:

Two state legislators representing Manhattan’s West Side are opposing Related Companies/Wynn’s plan to erect a glittering casino in Hudson Yards near the High Line.

“I’ve been clear: I’m philosophically opposed to a casino on the west side of Manhattan. The community has been against it, and unless that changes, I’m a no,” said Assemblyman Tony Simone.

Simone will serve on the six-member local panel whose job will be to vote on whether to recommend the proposed casino to state officials.

Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, who chairs the Assembly’s Environmental Conservation Committee, said in a statement provided to The Post, “The High Line is a unique and beloved park intended to get New Yorkers and visitors outside and above the congested streets and sidewalks.

“Any plans that block views from this distinctive vantage point or allow for building closer to the High Line run counter to the High Line Special District and would significantly alter the experience,” she said.

Tourists walking along the High Line, an elevated train line converted to a public park and walkway, would wander directly past the site and could enter the massive resort between West 30th Street and 33rd streets and 11th and 12 avenues.

But backers of the High Line said the proposal would obstruct important and iconic views from the elevated park and walkway.

Quote:

Related Companies, in a statement Monday, urged elected leaders not to rush to judgement.

“Our proposal to transform the western yards into a massive new park, housing and development that will generate tens of thousands of jobs, billions in new taxes and community investments, has not even been formally submitted yet, so we would hope our government leaders would wait to read it before forming a judgement,” the company said when asked about the political opposition.

“Until then, we will continue to communicate the profound benefits of the plan for the neighborhood and New York.”

I don't understand how these people in the media allow these statements to be made without questioning the logic. Exactly how does a casino that will be located opposite the High Line - a park that winds its way under (and through) multiple buildings one the west side - alter the views? We've known all along that there would be skyscrapers on the western yards, just as we've known that the platform itself will rise above the High Line once it reaches the river side. I understand the NIMBYism, that was expected. But at least give a reasonable excuse. And what are these "iconic" views that would be blocked?

DCReid

Jul 23, 2024 3:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NYguy (Post 10244357)

I read that site B is 1376 not 1276. What is the maximum height for Site c?

NYguy

Jul 23, 2024 1:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DCReid (Post 10250949)

I read that site B is 1376 not 1276. What is the maximum height for Site c?

That’s what I meant to put, I put it in the title. Site C is the casino/hotel tower. They didn’t make any height adjustments - as of yet. It’s possible that those changes were just to account for bulkhead heights, but still to early to say for certain what final heights will be. The committes that will review these proposals won’t even be set up until sometime next year, thanks to the governor’s inaction.

ChiND

Jul 23, 2024 7:53 PM

NY Guy,

Does this mean that the Related/Wynn proposal is dead?

https://therealdeal.com/new-york/202...asino-project/

Sky88

Jul 23, 2024 8:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChiND (Post 10251490)

NY Guy,

Does this mean that the Related/Wynn proposal is dead?

https://therealdeal.com/new-york/202...asino-project/

I don't think so, but the project will have to be modified. Instead of having three large towers, perhaps we could have a single large office/hotel tower similar to the 175 Park Avenue project and a casino like the one that will be built in Chicago. The rest of the site will be able to accommodate a huge new park, housing, schools etc.

ChiND

Jul 23, 2024 9:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sky88 (Post 10251533)

Thanks. So these comments weren’t just advisory?

Sky88

Jul 23, 2024 9:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChiND (Post 10251563)

Thanks. So these comments weren’t just advisory?

We are certainly still at an early stage in the long approval process, but I believe Related/Wynn will need to make changes to the proposal to avoid any more bumps in the road.

NYguy

Jul 24, 2024 1:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChiND (Post 10251490)

NY Guy,

Does this mean that the Related/Wynn proposal is dead?

https://therealdeal.com/new-york/202...asino-project/

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sky88 (Post 10251533)

I don't think so, but the project will have to be modified.

No and No. Firstly, there has been no proposal submitted yet. The state's approvals process won't begin until next year, which as I've said already is thanks to the governor's inaction. Both houses of government in the state amended the timeline to have proposals submitted by next month, but the governor didn't sign off on it. So now they will be due June of next year.

The 6 member committees (each proposal will get one) will then be assembled, with each member representing a branch of government (local and state). 4 of 6 members need to give approval for and proposal to move forward and go before the state board.

What's moving through approvals now is the various local (city) approvals needed before a bid can even be submitted. In other words, you have to have a site to put a casino before you can propose to build one. Now, this was an uneccesary step placed by the governor. Previous state approvals only needed to be approved by the state (the casinos are state developments).

So basically everything that's being said now is a lot of noise. The city will approve the locations for the casinos - those that it can (any proposal on park land would have to be approved by the state) because it wants the casinos to be located in the city. Next year is when the real action begins.

This is how the timeline now stands:

https://a4.pbase.com/o12/06/102706/1...sO2TC9E.c7.jpg

https://a4.pbase.com/o12/06/102706/1...P6GaQtS.c1.jpg

ChiND

Jul 24, 2024 2:14 AM

Thanks. That’s good news.

DCReid

Jul 24, 2024 2:20 AM

They are putting so much emphasis on a casino anchored development, that I wonder what happens if they don't get the casino.

NYguy

Jul 24, 2024 3:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DCReid (Post 10251742)

They are putting so much emphasis on a casino anchored development, that I wonder what happens if they don't get the casino.

It just reverts back to the original plan it’s already zoned for. The apartment towers would be phased in.

This is a chance to do it all at once like the first phase. But the multiple apartment towers of the current site plan would have to be phased in.

mrnyc

Jul 24, 2024 5:11 PM

yeah there is no change in plans if they don’t get the casino.

it just happens faster if they do.

and i hope they do — it gets the yards built, is out of the way and is a nice amenity for javits conventioners.

NYguy

Jul 24, 2024 7:52 PM

The people who were screaming about not having a chance to voice their opinions have actually gotten and will have too many chances to make noise. We’re looking at 3 levels of approvals that require community input.

The first was the city’s, which is complete now. That was citywide, and required input from all of the CBs, and only made it possible for the 3 casinos that are a part of this process.

The second level, which we are going through now, is the approval for the land-use zoning on individual sites.

The 3rd level will occur after June of next year when the 6 member panels hold hearings.

This process could have and should have been streamlined and simplified.

NYguy

Jul 25, 2024 1:32 AM

There's a direct connection planned from the High Line to the casino, but I also hope that the governor delivers the talked about pedestrian connection from the High Line to Hudson River Park. Plans have been revealed for updating the stretch of the park directly bordering the railyards...

https://i0.wp.com/w42st.com/wp-conte...00%2C596&ssl=1
https://w42st.com/post/hudson-river-...lion-redesign/

Sky88

Jul 25, 2024 2:15 PM

It's a shame that none of the builders thought of proposing a casino on the sea. Pier 76 could have been better exploited with two large cruise ships. One used as a hotel and the other as a casino, without having all these unnecessary problems with the High Line, parks, housing, schools etc.

NYguy

Jul 26, 2024 3:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sky88 (Post 10252977)

Google Westway project to get an idea. No one wants to come close to that. James Dolan has said he considered building a Sphere (like the one he built in Vegas) on a pier in the Hudson, but it was costs prohibitive.

https://www.amny.com/opinion/make-new-york-city-work/

Op-Ed | How to make New York City work for working-class New Yorkers

By Rev. Dr. Johnnie Melvin Green
July 26, 2024

Quote:

As the pastor and founder of Mobilizing Preachers and Communities (MPAC), a civil rights and faith-based organization in Harlem dedicated to justice and equality, I am deeply familiar with our city’s cost of living crisis. Every day, I hear from my congregation and community about the escalating prices of rent, food, and utilities, all while unemployment remains stubbornly flat.

....As the cost of basic needs continues to rise faster than earnings, middle-class New Yorkers are struggling to keep up. Our city is in desperate need of opportunities that bring new jobs and economic benefits to those who need them most.

Quote:

Fortunately, such an opportunity is on the horizon. With three downstate casino licenses now up for grabs, New York has a chance to extend an economic ladder to the middle class. The debate over whether New York City should have a casino is long past… three are coming and we must make sure we maximize this opportunity to create jobs, economic development and the community benefits all the operators are promising.

It seems obvious to me that one of those casinos should be located in tourist-rich Manhattan, where it would be accessible to New Yorkers across the city and state. While no operators have made their full bids public yet, early details about a casino at the Western Rail Yards on Manhattan’s far west side are particularly compelling. The $12 billion investment would create 35,000 construction jobs and 5,000 new permanent union jobs–jobs that many folks in my community could benefit from.

The economic impact of a new casino in Manhattan would be far-reaching. Creating a new destination would benefit local business owners, leading to potential business expansion and the creation of even more jobs. This development would not only provide immediate economic relief but additional assets like affordable housing, a new school and a nearly six-acre park, which would be long lasting.

Investing in developments like the one planned for the Western Rail Yards have yielded incredibly high returns for some communities across the country. The most comparable example to a Manhattan casino, the Encore Boston Harbor Hotel and Casino, has generated over $1.3 billion in direct and indirect economic impact for the region while supporting more than 9,900 jobs, according to a report from the Economic & Public Policy Research (EPPR) at UMass Amherst. This is just one example that illustrates how Wynn can make an impact in New York City, as casinos have in other cities as well.

Quote:

Despite the potential for a big return, there is significant opposition from wealthy public interest groups. Recent opposition to the rail yards project uses coded language like “protecting the character of the neighborhood.” Our response must be clear: we cannot allow the wealthy to block jobs and housing for working-class New Yorkers. As our city becomes increasingly unaffordable, we must prioritize the needs of all residents, especially those in communities like mine.

A Manhattan casino offers a unique chance for economic advancement that our community desperately needs and the rail yards proposal is particularly strong. With proper regulation and community engagement, this project can bring transformative benefits to our city.

The success of this project could serve as a model for future developments across the city. By demonstrating how a large-scale project can bring tangible benefits to local communities, we can encourage more initiatives that prioritize the needs of working-class New Yorkers. This approach can help bridge the growing divide between the wealthy and the working class, creating a more prosperous city for all New Yorkers.

We cannot let the privileged stop communities of color and the working class. For the future of our city, we must embrace new developments that will strengthen and build up our middle class and our economy. There isn’t a moment to waste. We must act now to secure a better future for our city and all its residents.

NYguy

Jul 27, 2024 1:13 AM

https://www.otdowntown.com/news/huds...port-JY3526964

Hudson River Park Proposes $65M to Develop Stretch from Intrepid to Heliport

https://www.otdowntown.com/binreposi...0726163810.jpg

26 Jul 2024

Quote:

The Hudson River Park Trust, keeper of the four-mile long park, informed Community Board four that it has begun planning for the improvement of the stretch of park from the Heliport to the Intrepid and has set aside $65 million for the work.

Meantime, Related Companies says it wants to replace its 2009 plan for developing the western end of Hudson Yards with a new $10 billion proposal for a casino and resort.

This being New York, neither plan has been greeted with unmitigated hurrahs.

Quote:

“This is penny wise and pound foolish,” a longtime critic of the Hudson River Park Trust, Tom Fox, said of its announcement. “Let’s not deal with chump change. Let’s really design the section of the park as it should be designed and stop kicking the can down the road.”

He said that a comprehensive plan for this “missing piece” of the Hudson River Park should include a pedestrian bridge across route 9A (the West Side Highway, to most New Yorkers) at the Convention Center, robust flood resiliency against rising tides in the river and the removal of bus parking in that stretch of the park and of the heliport, long a bane to users of the park.

Quote:

For its part, the Park Trust told Community Board Four it was in the early stages of planning, and was mainly seeking to introduce the planning team to the community. They said they had hired the architectural firm, Marvel Designs, to begin planning the new stretch of park.

The Park Trust said the $65 million for building these 17 blocks of the park would include state and local funds as well as revenue from development in the park. Governor Hochul signed legislation the other day approving private development on half of Pier 76, the former city tow pound, while preserving the other half for the park. The site is immediately across from The Javits Center.

Quote:

The city 15 years ago approved a development plan for west Hudson Yards that was heavy with residential housing. But the developer, Related Properties, has never proceeded with that plan and recently asked to set it aside in favor of building a casino and hotel tower, one of eleven proposals in and around New York City seeking to win one of the three downstate casino licenses to be approved by the legislature

The Hudson Yards Casino proposal has drawn stiff opposition from the non-profit which run the High Line, the park on an old railroad that wraps around the western edge of the Hudson rail yards

To resist the casino plan, The High Line has just launched a Protect the High Line at the Rail Yards campaign.

“The western railyard was contemplated as a counterpoint to the eastern rail yard,” said Preeti Sodhi, the High Lines senior director of community and government relations. “Where the eastern rail yard is largely commercial and retail, the western rail yards proposed over 3,500 residential units, a school and some commercial space at the northern end of the development.”

.....She described the casino plan, undertaken with Wynn, as “a giant podium bigger than six Costco warehouses that will overwhelm the High Line and reduce the amount of housing.”

mrnyc

Jul 27, 2024 7:28 PM

oh man does that awful stretch of the hudson river park need developed. all in for that.

NYguy

Jul 30, 2024 2:27 AM

Quote:

https://www.playny.com/high-line-lau...rn-rail-yards/

In a press release, High Line noted that its campaign would make sure that any development “protects the iconic nature and experience” of the area.

The Wynn casino proposal, however, “would negatively impact the experience of millions of visitors and obstruct important and iconic views from the High Line.”

Quote:

Sally Greenspan, president of the Council of Chelsea Block Associations, underscored the “serious housing crisis” faced by Chelsea, one that will not be solved with the proposed Wynn New York City project that will feature an 80-story hotel tower with the gaming facility, another tower for apartments, and a third tower for offices, all surrounding a 5.6-acre park.

“Chelsea needs more housing, not more office space and CCBA opposes the potential inclusion of a casino,” Greenspan said in the press release. “CCBA supports the Protect the High Line campaign to get the Rail Yards plan back on track.”

I still can't get my head around the stupidity of these comments. They should just come out agains a casino full stop. At least that would be an argument that holds water. But what they're saying is just stupid. And furthermore, the proposed office tower is the same size as the one that is already planned for the site. So that argument holds no water either.

Anyway, hadn't been to the interim side of the High Line (around the western yards) in a while, since it had been closed off But got a chance to visit again, and see what these bats could possibly be talking about...

JULY 28, 2024

Part of the charm of the High Line is the way it winds it's way though buildings, and so many new developments have risen up around it. So saying that another building would ruin the experience is just ludicrous, especially when you consider that the alternative would include MORE towers.

1.
https://a4.pbase.com/o12/06/102706/1...ic0728241b.jpg

2.
https://a4.pbase.com/o12/06/102706/1...ic0728242b.jpg

3.
https://a4.pbase.com/o12/06/102706/1...ic0728243b.jpg

Work continues on the shell for the new rail tunnel, part of Gateway.

4.
https://a4.pbase.com/o12/06/102706/1...ic0728244b.jpg

The casino (Tower C) would sit just west of 35 Hudson Yards.

5.
https://a4.pbase.com/o12/06/102706/1...ic0728245b.jpg

Towers A & B would sit just west of 15 Hudson Yards.

6.
https://a4.pbase.com/o12/06/102706/1...ic0728246b.jpg

7.
https://a4.pbase.com/o12/06/102706/1...ic0728247b.jpg

8.
https://a4.pbase.com/o12/06/102706/1...ic0728248b.jpg

9.
https://a4.pbase.com/o12/06/102706/1...ic0728249b.jpg

10.
https://a4.pbase.com/o12/06/102706/1...c07282410b.jpg

11.
https://a4.pbase.com/o12/06/102706/1...c07282411b.jpg

12.
https://a4.pbase.com/o12/06/102706/1...c07282412b.jpg

13.
https://a4.pbase.com/o12/06/102706/1...c07282413b.jpg

14.
https://a4.pbase.com/o12/06/102706/1...c07282414b.jpg

15.
https://a4.pbase.com/o12/06/102706/1...c07282415b.jpg

The "iconic" views from the High Line (that WILL be altered either way).

16.
https://a4.pbase.com/o12/06/102706/1...c07282416b.jpg

17.
https://a4.pbase.com/o12/06/102706/1...c07282417b.jpg

18.
https://a4.pbase.com/o12/06/102706/1...c07282418b.jpg

19.
https://a4.pbase.com/o12/06/102706/1...c07282419b.jpg

20.
https://a4.pbase.com/o12/06/102706/1...c07282420b.jpg

The western end of this block (33rd St) will remain open from the west side, underneath the new 33rd Street that will be created to bring the street up to grade with the platform (and the casino).

21.
https://a4.pbase.com/o12/06/102706/1...c07282421b.jpg

You can see why the platform itself would be above grade...

22.
https://a4.pbase.com/o12/06/102706/1...c07282422b.jpg

23.
https://a4.pbase.com/o12/06/102706/1...c07282423b.jpg

The other Javits site the state has yet to issue an RFP for would be just north of the casino, west of 55 Hudson. Somebody remind the governor it exists.

24.
https://a4.pbase.com/o12/06/102706/1...c07282424b.jpg

Trains at street level...

25.
https://a4.pbase.com/o12/06/102706/1...c07282425b.jpg

26.
https://a4.pbase.com/o12/06/102706/1...c07282426b.jpg

https://a4.pbase.com/o12/06/102706/1...F.IMG_2597.JPG

NYguy

Aug 10, 2024 6:02 PM

BTW, it's been mentioned before, but only one of the planned towers (the casino complex) would be built above the actual rail platform.

https://youtu.be/FNSXtKYMEZI?si=MVS8o6Fn-X16Knz9
https://a4.pbase.com/o12/06/102706/1...kabirkhan1.png

https://a4.pbase.com/o12/06/102706/1...kabirkhan2.png

NYguy

Aug 13, 2024 1:10 AM

https://www.buyingnyc.com/news?page=11

Q&A: Related's CEO makes the case for more offices, less housing and a James Bond-worthy casino

08/07/2024

Quote:

Let’s start by describing your casino proposal and what it would bring to the city.

We’ve partnered with Wynn Resorts to develop a world-class resort that would anchor the development of the western rail yards, including a 2 million square-foot office building and another 1 million square-foot residential building. It would include great community benefits, including 324 affordable housing units, a K-8 public school, and a large-scale public open space that would be bigger than Bryant Park.

There is no comparable economic-development opportunity in the city, and there hasn’t been anything like this since probably the first half of Hudson Yards or, going back in time, Rockefeller Center or the redevelopment of the World Trade Center. There would be over 35,000 construction jobs and over 5,000 permanent jobs in the resort alone.

What do you think your odds are of winning the casino license given that elected officials including State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, City Council member Erik Bottcher and Assemblyman Tony Simone have not been speaking very warmly about your bid?

We think we have lots of public support for this project for all the reasons that we’ve just described. And we will continue to talk to the elected officials and the community groups as we go through this process, which will continue well into 2025.

Community Board 4 has criticized your plan because you’re proposing to build just 1,500 apartments in the western half of Hudson Yards, and under a 2009 zoning deal Related agreed to build 5,700. Why are you backing away when there’s a big housing shortage?

So the zoning actually created the flexibility to adjust for economic conditions. And what we have seen over time is increased demand for first-class new office buildings and less demand for luxury condos, more demand for rental and affordable housing. What’s being eliminated is a super-luxury condominium building in the middle of the park.

Quote:

Manhattan’s office vacancy rate is about 20%. Does it give you pause to add 2 million square feet of new office space in a market like this?

We have seen unprecedented demand here at Hudson Yards for these new modern office towers and are very confident in our ability to lease this new building.

If you don’t win the casino license, would you still build a new office tower, housing and a school in Hudson Yards?

It would not be on the same timeline at all because the infrastructure costs of building this platform have escalated so dramatically, and the resort is really the economic engine that’s paying for a big portion of this. I couldn't tell you when the western yards would get developed absent the resort but it still would be.

The nonprofit Friends of the High Line also doesn’t like the idea of a Hudson Yards casino. Is there any room for compromise?

We’ve met with them over 10 times and have actually made significant modifications to our plan based on all their physical suggestions on site. We’re hopeful that we're able to continue the dialogue with them. But if their real desire is to have a kind of anti-development approach, then you know, I’m not sure there’s going to be anything to work out here.

When Hudson Yards was first developed, it was granted significant property tax discounts, called PILOTs, which have about another 20 years to go. As part of the western expansion, would you seek a similar discount arrangement with the city?

The answer is we’re not sure yet. We have not gotten to the tax component of this, so I don’t really have an answer for you.

You’ve said you envision a James Bond sort of casino, very high-end. Would there be a dress code?

Nobody wants to pick up Las Vegas and drop it into New York City because that’s not what Hudson Yards is about. This will be a resort that’s designed to be consistent with what we have here at Hudson Yards; we would design something that is reflective of New York and fits in New York. People will come from around the world to go to a Wynn Resort in New York City.

You know, many casino resorts are very closed and insular where you go in and you never go out, but the whole idea here is to get people to New York and have them experience New York. We in particular decided not to build a theater at the resort, but instead would put in a concierge who would help guests get to Broadway shows or to the Shed.

ChiND

Aug 13, 2024 1:48 AM

I hope that NIMBY putzses’ idiocy don’t result in the casino being a 900’ mediocre tower.

Mulan

Aug 13, 2024 1:46 PM

I don't think the casino will ever be built here anyway, rather it will be converted to Times Square. If the NIMBYs continue to be stubborn, only a few skyscrapers of around 900 feet will be built here. There is unused land here why not leave the Western Yards empty like 418 11th Ave.
Affordable housing is more likely to be built here, the future with striking towers belongs more to Park Ave, Grand Central Zone and Midtown East.

I think the Affirmation Tower is a canceled project.

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