NEW YORK | Hudson Yards Phase 2 | 1,376 - 1,189 - 1,180 FT | 80/80/74 FLOORS

[NYguy]

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://w42st.com/post/hudson-river-...lion-redesign/

[Sky88]

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]

Originally Posted by Sky88

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.

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

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.

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.

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]

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

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





26 Jul 2024

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.

“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.

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.

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.”