Latest news with #TheConey
Business Times
08-07-2025
- Business
- Business Times
New York City casinos could become world's biggest, bidders predict
[NEW YORK] Bidders for three New York City-area casino licences are projecting revenue that would place them among the most lucrative resorts in the world, according to an analysis of their proposals. In Manhattan, the Freedom Plaza project is expected to generate US$2.2 billion in annual revenue in its first year of operation, rising to US$4.2 billion by year 10, while billionaire Steve Cohen's project near Citi Field in Queens is forecast to produce US$3.9 billion annually by year three, according to executive summaries the bidders filed with the New York State Gaming Facility Location Board. Those sums rival some of the world's top casino performers. Las Vegas Sands' Marina Bay Sands resort in Singapore generated US$4.2 billion in total revenue last year. Wynn Resorts' two Las Vegas casinos, the Wynn and Encore, produced a combined US$2.57 billion in revenue in 2024. The Coney, a resort proposed for Coney Island, is the only project that shared specific revenue estimates by source and year. Its backers, including real estate investor Joe Sitt, project US$669 million in table-game revenue and US$754 million in slot-machine revenue in its first year of operation. By comparison, Wynn's two Las Vegas casinos generated US$611 million from table games and US$446 million from slots last year. Eight bidders submitted proposals on Jun 27. Their bids still need approval from groups of state and local officials, and will be summited to the state location board if they pass muster. The board plans to pick the winners by Dec 1. The projects would bring the first full-fledged casinos to America's most-populous city. The bidders are a mix of billionaires, property owners and established casino operators. Three of the proposals are for Manhattan, with the rest in a suburb or outer borough. Revenue estimates are just projections, and the numbers may change as the bidders update their offers later in the process. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Caesars Entertainment has proposed a casino in Times Square that it said would generate US$23.3 billion in gambling revenue alone over 10 years. A spokesperson for the project called it an opportunity to generate 'historic tax revenue' for the city. 'We see all of Times Square becoming the resort, with local restaurants, hotels and Broadway theaters all directly benefiting,' the spokesperson said. The Avenir, from developer Larry Silverstein, projects US$2.5 billion in gambling revenue in its first full year. 'Locating a destination casino in Manhattan will generate the most revenue for the state, according to New York's own independent study,' the Avenir executive summary said. 'It is not in the economic interest of Manhattan to force its tourists to travel to other boroughs to enjoy gaming and its amenities.' A study by consultants Spectrum Gaming Group projected nearly US$2.1 billion in gambling revenue for a hypothetical Manhattan-based casino, with ones in the outskirts generating far less. MGM Resorts International, which operates a slot-machine-only facility in Yonkers, and Genting Group's Resorts World, which has a similar property next to the Aqueduct racetrack in Queens, said their gambling revenue would more than double if they're allowed to add table games like blackjack and sports betting. MGM projected casino revenue of as much as US$1.39 billion annually, while Resorts World said its casino revenue would jump to US$2.2 billion a year by 2027. Projections from eager developers can sometimes get ahead of reality. The first four casinos to open in upstate New York fell short of initial projections, as did a temporary casino Bally's opened in Chicago in 2023, ahead of a bigger resort it's building there. Bally's, which is proposing a casino at a company-owned golf course in the Bronx, is projecting US$1 billion a year in gambling revenue when it opens. It said the resort would generate US$200 million annually in gaming-related taxes. As part of the New York bidding process, candidates will suggest their own tax rates for their casino revenue, a process designed to maximise the state's take. That last step has not happened yet. Two of the New York bidders said they were using the minimum 10 per cent tax rate on table games and 25 per cent rate on slot machines required by the state to estimate their proposed tax contributions. Others did not specify tax rates. BLOOMBERG
CBS News
14-02-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Coney Island artists concerned about controversial casino proposal
A New York City arts nonprofit says it's worried about the future if a controversial plan to build a casino in Coney Island moves forward. Coney Island Mermaid Parade could be jeopardized if casino is built, organizers say Artists with Coney Island USA, the arts nonprofit responsible for the summertime celebration and a variety of year-round beachside programs, are preparing to hold a mock funeral Saturday for one of their time-honored traditions: the iconic Mermaid Parade. Adam Rinn, the nonprofit's artistic director, says if developers have their way, the futures of both the parade and the organization are in jeopardy. "Our building is literally going to be surrounded by pallets of cinder blocks, by trucks, by chain link fences, by porta-potties. Who's going to come into our business for upwards of four years when this construction is going on to support us?" Rinn said. He's talking about the proposal to bring The Coney, a massive casino, hotel and entertainment venue to the area. It's one of the locations being evaluated for three downstate casino licenses to be awarded by the New York State Gaming Commission later this year. Casino would offer opportunity to invest in neighborhood, developers say Robert Cornegy, a spokesperson for The Coney, said the development seeks to support artists. "We have a $200 million fund that is for the community to access and to use in the way that it sees fit. If the Mermaid Parade is one of those ways, then certainly we'd be in support of that," he said. He argues that it would be an opportunity to invest in the neighborhood and to use funding to address longtime concerns like storm resiliency and boardwalk improvements. He also says it will bring thousands of union jobs. "Access to employment in this peninsula has been incredibly rare and scarce. The unemployment numbers are always higher in Coney Island than not only to the national average, but the city and state average," Cornegy said. Rinn doesn't believe that's the right argument. "Isn't it the city's job to invest in neighborhoods?" he asked CBS News New York's Hannah Kliger. "Why is it a private developer's job to cover infrastructure in a neighborhood? To me, that's just a bad deal." The Coney casino license bid continues despite community division Part of the proposal includes demapping several local streets to build the combined 1.3 million square foot development surrounding Coney Island USA's landmarked century-old headquarters. The building itself is protected and will remain but everything around it would have to be demolished. Community Board 13 did not approve the land use application, although the vote is considered advisory. Now the Brooklyn Borough President has one month to review the matter. "It would literally engulf our entire building," Rinn said of the street changes. "We've not seen any kind of studies that talk about pile driving and what that would do to the structural integrity of this building." Regardless of what happens during the Universal Land Use Review Procedure to change the streets, developers with The Coney continue their bid for the casino license, even if they have to amend its footprint. "I think there's a misconception that we're going to replace small businesses. No, we're going to work hand in hand and actually drive our customer base back out into the community," Cornegy said. It's a sore subject for local dad Kouichi Shirayanagi, who started an organization called Coney Islanders Against the Casino. "Casinos don't build. They take away from the economic vitality of a place. Because when people spend their money in a casino, they're not spending their money on local retail," he said. Developers claim their plan has community support among locals. Artists at Coney Island USA, though, hope the casino license does not go through so their mock mermaid memorial doesn't become a real one.
