New York City has another bidder for one of its coveted casino licenses.
Larry Silverstein is proposing a site he owns in Hell’s Kitchen. He is partnering with Watche Manoukian and Greenwood Gaming, owner of the Parx casino in Pennsylvania. Silverstein believes no one will object to using his site, located near the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel. He promises jobs, tax revenue, and development in an area that he said needs his project.
Being New York City, unlike casinos anywhere else in the country, the building will be tall, scraping the sky, as they say in the City. The proposal calls for two 46-story towers and an eight-story casino. There is a charm to those tall buildings, but elsewhere, casino developers have found that customers like to gamble on the ground floor. They don’t mind riding an elevator to a hotel room, but not a gambling table.
Silverstein is joining a group of would-be licensees, at least 10 by the time the bidding window closes. The other proposals are also partnerships between casino operators and landowners and/or developers. The casino companies are a who’s-who of gaming, including Wynn Resorts, Las Vegas Sands, Rush Street Gaming, Hard Rock International, Bally’s, and Caesars. The developers include Hudson’s Bay Company and its Saks Fifth Avenue, the owner of the New York Mets, Steve Cohen, and Coney Island. There are no lightweights in this contest.
In January, New York announced it would award three licenses in the New York City area, each license costing the winning bidder $500 million. The winning bidder will be expected to spend a billion dollars and hire thousands of New Yorkers. Although the state announced it would offer three licenses, two are probably already taken. Consensus has it that they will go to current operators of racinos, Genting of Resorts World New York City at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, and Empire City Casino in Yonkers owned by Vici Properties, a real estate investment trust (REIT), and operated by MGM Resorts.
Genting is no novice in this contest; the company is a resort operator from Malaysia. Although it is publicly traded, Genting plays a long-term game. Genting bought a piece of land in Miami in 2011, hoping in time it would be possible to build one of its famous resorts there. Now it is trying to sell that land. Earlier this year, Genting sold land it owned in Macau, as all hope for a resort there was lost with the new licenses Macau has granted. In Las Vegas, Genting purchased the former Stardust site from Boyd Gaming in 2013 and opened its Resorts World Las Vegas two years ago.
Genting has shown its willingness to wait for the action to catch up to its play. The company bought into New York gaming over 10 years ago and now owns three properties in the state. The biggest and most lucrative is Resorts World at Aqueduct Racecourse, with more than 6,000 slot machines. The company has been biding its time, waiting for the time when it could build a true Genting Resorts World. It appears that opportunity may be just around the corner.
The other shoe-in is Empire City Casino just north of the city limits in Yonkers. Like Resorts World in Queens, Empire City is a racino, meaning it has slot machines, but no table games. The racetrack was founded in 1899; the first slot machines were installed in 2006. In 2019, MGM saw a chance to buy into the New York City market with the purchase of Empire City. MGM hoped that New York would eventually authorize a full casino license for New York City. The Yonkers property, owned by Vici, could be the springboard into a much larger and more profitable resort.
That leaves just one license and a long line of contenders. We have already seen some startling plans, including Saks Fifth Avenue, Coney Island, Times Square, and now Hell’s Kitchen. The gaming companies will be important in the selection process, but probably less so than the location. Silverstein thinks his site will not be opposed, as Times Square and Coney Island have been, for example. But of course, that is not true. There will be critics, opponents, and something close to armed resistance as is developing around Times Square.
Every borough, every neighborhood, even every street has its own devotees. They celebrate their unique culture, history, and sense of place. One thing all those mini-cultural zones have in common is this: None has a casino in its DNA. The proposals will all have to win the approval of voters and local politicians. It is estimated that it will take at least a year before the final license is awarded. The other two could happen sooner and are not likely to generate as much resistance. The citizens of Queens and Yonkers have had many years to get used to the idea of gambling in their little corner of the Big Apple.
New York City is a big media town. Anyone who comes to town — athlete, musician, actor, artist, or candlestick maker — has to get used to the media. The New York Times and the rest of the city’s media will be following the casino process closely. At times, it will be a media circus. Due to the increased sensitivity to animal safety, there will be no elephants, tigers, or other animal acts. However, we can expect that a very large contingent of clowns will be sent into the ring.
