A key community panel on Monday rejected plans for a casino next to the United Nations, marking the third casino proposal to fail in Manhattan and ensuring no casino will be green-lit in the borough in the immediate future.
The rejection of the Freedom Plaza proposal, by a 4-2 vote, came despite last-minute sweeteners by the developers, who promised to augment the sprawling development with nearly 1,100 units of affordable housing.
“I found the revenue projections for Freedom Plaza to be overly optimistic,” community advisory committee member Reshma Patel, who was appointed by Assembly member Harvey Epstein and voted against the project, told Gothamist.
Patel added: “I believe our community deserves investments that create opportunity and stability — not projects that risk increasing traffic, crime, and gambling addiction while overstating their economic benefits.”
The rejection leaves five casino projects in contention for as many as three downstate casino licenses, which the state is scheduled to award by the end of the year. These include two projects in Queens as well as projects in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Westchester County.
Last week community advisory committees rejected a proposal for a Caesars Palace casino in Times Square as well as The Avenir, located on the west side of Manhattan. As with those votes, the only committee members who voiced support for the Freedom Plaza application were appointees of Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams.
The $11 billion Freedom Plaza project, located along the East River, was jointly developed by Soloviev Group and Mohegan. They claimed the project would create some 8,000 permanent jobs and thousands of construction jobs as well.
In addition to an underground casino the proposal included two hotels, a sprawling wellness center, a museum devoted to democracy and a 5-acre park. In an 11th-hour announcement on Saturday, the developers offered to designate all 1,080 units of proposed residential housing affordable.
After the vote, Soloviev Group CEO Michael Hershman said the company remained “humbled by the overwhelming support expressed by neighbors, community and civic organizations.”
“We are proud of our partnership with Mohegan and the vision that informed this project that would have revitalized Midtown East and delivered for workers, residents, and organizations across this city,” Hershman said.
He added: “Manhattan is the undisputed capital of the world, and it deserved a fully integrated resort that would have attracted visitors while serving the needs of its community.”
William Fowler, a City Hall spokesperson, decried the rejection of the three Manhattan proposals, lamenting the loss of thousands of jobs and saying in a statement, “Using their representatives on three community advisory committees, elected officials have unfairly taken Manhattan out of the game before it even began. “
Fowler added, “This is an unfortunate outcome, as more proposals foster competition, leading to stronger plans that deliver greater public benefits. To be clear, this is not simply a rejection of a new casino in Manhattan — it is a rejection of new housing, new schools, billions of dollars in investment, and more for the borough.”
But State Sen. Kristen Gonzalez, who represents the area, said in a statement that she supported the committee vote.
“For almost two years now, community members have sent a clear message: they do not want to see a casino on this site,” Gonzalez said. “Today’s vote was the result of deep community organizing and proves we can have a land use process that puts people over profit.”
Gonzalez also signed a joint statement with the elected officials behind the other opposing votes votes, including Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, Council member Keith Powers and Assembly member Harvey Epstein,
“Our neighbors on the East Side of Manhattan have communicated to us, and to the CAC, through hours of public hearings, significant concerns regarding increased congestion, public safety, and the quality of life concerns this project would introduce into our community,” the statement read. “For this reason, we support the CAC’s decision today to not advance the casino proposal at Freedom Plaza.”
This article was updated with additional comment.
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