[NYguy]

https://w42st.com/post/everything-we...-hudson-yards/

“Everything We Agreed to is Gone”: West Side Residents Protest Casino Plan at Hudson Yards





by Dashiell Allen
4/8/2025

“We are demanding that our electeds stand with us in this fight, as they did 10 years ago in our victory,” said Ambur Nicosia, president of the Penn South Board — a cooperative housing development in Chelsea — on Tuesday morning.

She and other community leaders from Hell’s Kitchen and Chelsea braved the cold, blustery weather at a press conference, to stand strong against Related Companies and Wynn Resort’s push for a proposal that overhauls a 2009 plan for the undeveloped western portion of Hudson Yards (bw W31/33rd St and 11/12th Ave) that prioritized housing, in favor of a primarily commercial development, with the potential for a gaming facility.

The developer has since submitted plans that include 4,000 fewer housing units (but the same amount of affordable housing), a hotel, and a casino built on top of a podium — which requires approval through a separate state-led process.

“This was a long, hard fought battle that the community thought they had already won. So the fact that we’re standing here today is with great sadness,” Nicosia said.

Joe Restuccia, a longtime member of MCB4, was involved in negotiating the 2009 plan. “Here we are looking at the idea that everything we agreed to (in writing)… is gone,” he said on Tuesday, “and that’s why our Council Members have got to vote this down. Related Companies should have to withdraw the proposal. Let’s start again and do something that has a real housing plan.”

In defense of the proposal, Related’s Chief Operating Officer of Hudson Yards Andrew Rosen told the City Planning Commission in February, “We’re at a rare moment in time with a realistic, achievable opportunity to finish the Yards, deliver thousands of construction and permanent union jobs, green space, affordable housing and economic development in the city.

“Twenty percent of the High Line surrounds the western rail yard area, and the magic that is standing 30 feet above in the air, looking over and seeing the sweeping views of the city will be erased forever,” Van Capelle said on Tuesday.

The City Planning Commission is expected to vote on Related and Wynn’s proposal tomorrow (Wednesday), after which it would be voted on by the City Council in the coming weeks for final approval. The City Council typically defers to local members, in this case, Councilmember Erik Bottcher, who represents the West Side.

At a working session on Monday, the Department of City Planning urged the Commission to support the proposal, with slight modifications including dividing a large podium in the northern portion of its site plan into two parts with a corridor between them, and slightly lowering the podium’s height.

Restuccia said it’s likely the Commission will approve the proposal. “I think the real power lies with the City Council, and that’s who has to vote on this,” he said. “It used to be in the planning commission. Now it’s a rubber stamp commission.”

These morons. Everything of benefit to them is still there - the school, community space, open space, the affordable housing, all still there.