From the NY Post:Billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Aldelson wants to build a Las Vegas Sands casino-convention complex at the Javits Center — if New York ever legalizes gambling casinos.
“There’s a little noise in New York now, and we’re going to take a look and see if we can put something . . . maybe in Manhattan and be able to maybe do something with [the Jacob K. Javits Center] . . . and put our complex there,” Las Vegas Sands Corp. President Mike Leven told HotelNews.com.
LVS spokesman Ron Reed told The Post yesterday that the company is looking at building an “integrated resort development’’ that encompasses casinos and convention centers and other entertainment.
But opponents, noting New York’s record-shattering tourism numbers, say a casino on the far West Side is undesirable.
East Side Assemblyman Micah Kellner, who serves on the Racing and Wagering Committee, vowed to “do everything possible” to block a casino he said would “drastically transform” the West Side “in a way many don’t want to see.”
Meanwhile, the Legislature stripped from the budget Gov. Cuomo’s plan to have the state sell and raze the land in and around Javits to build a Battery Park City-like “21st Century Neighborhood” of homes, parks and hotels.
2 comments:
Sheldon has a great track record getting these mega-facilities built. I'll bet he is tossing his hat in the ring for projects here but it's a smoke screen for something else that no one is thinking of. He could in fact build a new Javits convention center that meets a big national venue that incorporates a hotel, retail and apartments - in exchange for building a casino elsewhere in the city. Let the ideas flow until a project makes sense - NY are stuck with their mind sets and need fresh outside ideas.
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If another casino operator want to build in NYC it should be built not in Manhattan since it already has enough attractions etc. Rather let there be a trade off to pay for example a new Javits center at a cost of 4-6 billion as the price for entry to gain gambling rights in NYC at a location in the other 4 boughs even Ozone Park next to Gentry's at the big A. Or it could be in the Bronx, Staten Island or Brooklyn - as long as the gambling operation is equal or greater in amusement and games of chance that the majority of games are low cost vs high rollers then we could keep our citizens here vs sending them out of town.
It's time these outfits pay up to earn their permits not because they have friends in Albany to approve a permit without public knowledge. Let the incoming permit holder be totally responsible for the construction of the project (Javits for example) so that they incur the cost overruns etc. We need to be more imaginative as to bring various business in to partner and fund certain projects vs city-state government who are incapable of bring in a project to completion on time, within budget and usefulness.
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