New York has fallen a lot since the onset of the covid plandemic. It's about to fall even more.
The cash-strapped city, which has seen an exodus of disgruntled residents head to Florida and other less-deadly and tax-burdened pastures, may soon have a casino.
According to Bloomberg, real estate giant Silverstein Properties is pitching a casino project on the far west side of Manhattan, joining a handful of developers vying for one of three downstate gaming licenses.
The New York-based developer, best known for his towers at the World Trade Center site, is teaming up with Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment to submit a proposal for the Avenir, a 1.8 million square foot (167,200 square meter) project that consists of a casino as well as a hotel and residences, according to a statement Friday.
The proposed casino would be built on undeveloped land at 41st Street and 11th Avenue, north of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, at a site which is currently fully-owned by Silverstein.
“Our city and state face a confluence of historic challenges right now,” Larry Silverstein, chairman of Silverstein Properties, said in the statement. “We need to work with state and local leaders to do everything we can to make New York the best place to live, work and visit. We’ve done it before, and I am confident we can do it again.”
It was not immediately clear how slapping a casino in the middle of the west side, not far from the Hudson dockyards where recently every hedge fund has migrated to, will help make New York "the best place to live" but we are confident generously bribed New York bureaucrats will come up with an answer.
The project would include two 46-story towers connected by a public sky bridge and an eight-story gaming, entertainment and restaurant complex at the base. Plans also call for 1,000 luxury hotel rooms and more than 100 units of affordable housing.
Silverstein will be competing against pitches from other developers including SL Green Realty Corp. and even hedge fund manager Steve Cohen for a lucrative license to build a casino in New York City. State officials haven’t set a deadline yet for the submission of bids.
SL Green has also pitched a casino in Times Square, while Related Cos. proposed anchoring the second phase of its $25 billion Hudson Yards project with a gaming and entertainment complex.
One can only hope that by the time the casinos are built, there are still be a handful of wealthy New Yorkers who haven't split for Florida.
