Freedom Plaza's most recent bid was dropped, while another New York City casino bid was turned down.

The Freedom Plaza proposal, a more than $11 billion bid for an integrated resort casino on Manhattan's East Side next to the UN headquarters, was rejected by the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) 4-2 on Monday morning.  The bid was supported by Mohegan and Soloviev Group.

After Caesars Palace Times Square and The Avenir in Hell's Kitchen had similar vote results, this was the third time the CAC has voted against a downstate New York casino project, 4-2.

“Freedom Plaza was a transformative project that promised benefits that our community deserved and was built upon a sustained engagement with neighbors, civic leaders, and stakeholders across the city that recognized this once-in-a-generation opportunity. We are proud of our partnership with Mohegan. 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,” said Soloviev Group CEO Michael Hershman. 

The closure of Freedom Plaza implies that Manhattan will not have a casino.  One bid is in the Bronx (Bally's), another is in Westchester County via Yonkers (MGM Empire City), two of the other five bids are in Queens (Resorts World New York City, Metropolitan Park), and the fifth is in Brooklyn's Coney Island (The Coney).

Only two of the six members of Freedom Plaza backed it: Jennifer Sta. Ines, who was appointed by New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and Nichols Silbersack, who is the deputy policy director for New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D).  Ines is Manhattan's deputy borough commissioner.

The four other CAC members who voted against Freedom Plaza were Councilmember Keith Powers, Assemblymember Harvey Epstein (D-District 74), Borough President Mark Levine, Sandra McKee, Reshma Patel, Celeste Royo, and Jasmine Narula, who each represented state Sen. Kristen Gonzalez (D-Manhattan). 

Opposition in the Community

Community Board 6 officially opposed the project through a resolution, despite the Soloviev Group and Mohegan's claims of strong local support.  The CAC members appeared to recognize the community's objection to the bid, despite the Community Board's lack of official authority to stop it.

"I could not be prouder of the East Side community for fighting back and defeating this impractical casino proposal. Beating back this proposal took a village, but we all showed up and made our voices heard. But this is not the end, just the beginning. We must work hand in hand with the Soloviev Group to make sure this land does not continue to sit idle, and instead is developed in smart, thoughtful ways to give back to the community,” Kyle Athayde, a former CB6 chair who is running for city council, told Casino.org.

To proceed with a bid to the New York Gaming Facility Location Board, a CAC must have a three-fifths majority.  After rejecting the amended offer last week to add more than 1,000 affordable housing units, the Freedom Plaza CAC indicated before its final decision that it would not be approving the project.

No Casino in Manhattan

Before December 1, the three downstate casino permits will be granted by the New York State Gaming Facility Location Board.  Only initiatives that receive CAC sponsorship are eligible to receive licenses.

Genting's Resorts World and MGM's Empire City in Yonkers are getting closer to obtaining full-scale gambling licenses that include live-dealer table games, retail sports betting, and slot machines reminiscent of Las Vegas. The Coney and Bally's Bronx have lengthier odds than Hard Rock, whose bid in Queens with Steve Cohen is likely to have the next-best odds.