Quote:
Originally Posted by streetscaper
What are your top 3 choices/faves?
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Now that the Related proposal, which is for a more upscale casino at the Hudson Yards is gone, and that development is moving forward anyway, I have to recalibrate.
Things are a little murky because teams have been adjusting their proposals at the last minute to include more housing, even if that housing is well away from the site of the casino. For example, Silverstein is now proposing 2,000 units, with about 500 affordable.
But none of that changes my rankings of what I feel would be the most impactful and beneficial to its surroundings. My favorites are:
1. Caesars Times Square
The most logical of all the proposals. The first battle all proposals face is getting people (customers) to the casino location. The thing about Times Square is, it doesn't have that issue. The people are already there, day and night. In droves. In fact, that makes me a little nervous about it. I feel they may need to put 2 casinos in Times Square due to the persistence of large crowds. It will be a cash cow for the state, but some people may be annoyed by the rush.
2. Coney Island, Coney Island, Coney Island
They have tried for decades to get legalized casinos at Coney Island, but it mostly seemed a pipe dream. In that time, there have been multiple proposals to get something large built there to overcome the image of a neglected and fading amusement district. Thankfully, the City finally got into action, and rezoned the area, bringing a more cohesive residential neighborhood and amusement & entertainment district into focus. There has been lots of progress on the residential and amusement fronts, but the indoor entertainment portion of the redevelopment has remained frozen. This is a REAL opportunity to finally get something done. It would be the major step that finally makes Coney Island a year round destination. Not to mention the many unionized jobs it would provide for the area. The neighborhoods on the shore (the Rockaways, Coney Island, etc) are some of the furthest away from the City's business districts, where a lot of the jobs are located. Opportunities to provide this many jobs, and in this particular neighborhood come less than once in a generation. If they don't get this done, Coney Island will continue to exist as a shell of what it could be.
3. Metropolitan Park, Queens
Now that the Long Island and Hudson Yards proposals are dead, this is one of the largest and most transformative. I still say the City should have put the soccer stadium on this site instead of eating space for new housing, but what's done is done. And it's a better use of the site than the parking lot they were using it for. It's a large site, so it will be a more expansive development than many of the others, largely consisting of new, indoor parking. But it is designed to blend in with Citi Field and surroundings. More probably could have been done. For example, Cohen could have agreed to pay for the rail line to LaGuardia that was planned. (Likewise, Silverstein could have paid for the subway stop where his proposal is).
All 3 of those locations have subway service, with Coney Island and Times Square both being served by multiple lines, and can handle large population swings. As far as Aqueduct and Yonkers, they can continue to operate, and can make upgrades to their properties even if not granted the license. It's not as if they don't have the money. Resorts World Aqueduct already has one of the upstate licenses closest to the city as well. The Silverstein and Con Ed proposals both seem to be just a few blocks out of the way. The Bally's Bronx proposal is way too out of the way to even be considered. And Yonkers is a non-starter.
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