Tens of billions of dollars, thousands of jobs, and quite possibly the fate of New York’s most iconic industry and most awful tourist trap were all at stake. But the closing days of a yearslong fight over whether to build a casino in Times Square seemed to revolve around one man: Jay-Z.
You could see it over the summer, when Al Sharpton headlined a rally just south of Times Square’s iconic red steps. “Say yes time! Yes time! In Times Square! Times Square! Jay-Z! Jay-Z!” he shouted. You could see it last week at the Broadhurst Theatre on 44th Street, the site of a final public hearing on the casino before a do-or-die vote. “For the first time,” promised Marc Holliday, the CEO of the city’s largest commercial real estate firm, “everyone has a seat at this table, with Jay-Z at the head.”
