The New York State Gaming Commission hosted a virtual scoping session Wednesday evening for the Caesars Palace Times Square casino development proposal. The commission scheduled the additional scoping session after facing backlash for running last week’s session with little advance public notice.
During public comments, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts President and CEO Geoff Ballotti chimed in to offer his support for the project.
“We believe that this is the only location, having looked at them all, been approached by other partners, where a casino will blend seamlessly into … the identity and the character of a neighborhood that really needs an upgrade,” Ballotti said.
Several local union leaders and representatives backed the project, though some union representatives of the theater industry held reservations. The bid has long faced backlash from residents and theaters for noise and traffic concerns.
Three companies are pitching the joint bid for the space — at 1515 Broadway, between W. 44 to W. 45 Streets — Caesars Entertainment, SL Green, and entertainment company Roc Nation. Wednesday’s scoping session sought to welcome public participation in the project’s draft environmental impact statement “at the earliest possible stage in the environmental review process,” Executive Director of the Gaming Commission Robert Williams said at the session.
Garrett Armwood, Vice President of Government Affairs at SL Green, presented the proposal for the development at the start of the session. Armwood said the developers had suggested to the commission an extension of the public comment period by one week to allow for the follow-up scoping session “in response to community input.”
“We have designed a proposal that is perfectly in character with the neighborhood and will generate enormous benefits to its neighbors without displacing any residents or potential future housing development,” Armwood said of the development. “This location also enables us to deliver the most sustainable possible project.”
Armwood said that rather than being “designed to keep people inside,” the proposed development would primarily drive business to the surrounding commerce in Times Square, creating a “halo effect” around the casino.
Advocating for the project’s sustainability, Armwood said the walkability and abundance of public transportation in Times Square makes it the ideal location for the massive development. He noted the casino would be “adaptively reusing the existing structure” of 1515 Broadway, giving it a “low carbon footprint with faster delivery and fewer disruptions during construction.”
Minutes before the hearing, the proposal earned the endorsements of two major Times Square venues — The Town Hall and Sony Hall.
“Caesars Palace Times Square represents a transformative opportunity to strengthen our industry in this neighborhood, creating a powerful new tourism draw that will benefit theaters of all sizes,” Sony Hall COO said in a Wednesday news release announcing the endorsements. “We’re proud to join this project and support a vision that will help ensure Times Square remains the world’s premier entertainment district.”
The venues announced that Caesars Palace Times Square and Roc Nation “will sponsor multiple live events each year” at The Town Hall and Sony Hall.
Linh Do, Senior Vice President of Environmental and Land Use Planning at environmental consulting firm AKRF, discussed the focuses of the project’s environmental review.
“Even though this is an adaptive reuse project with only an incremental increase of approximately 100,000 square feet, it is the activities generated by the green land use that will be the focus of the [environmental impact statement],” Do said.
The review will also investigate the project’s construction schedule and its impact on noise and traffic.
During public comments, local union leaders and representatives gave a mix of endorsements for and arguments against the project, with some noting the union jobs that the development would bring to the area and others pointing out the impact it may have on existing jobs, noise pollution, and traffic.
Henry Tavarez, business representative for Sheet Metal Workers Local 137, supported the development citing the influx of jobs and safety.
“It’s gonna bring more union jobs, it’ll help fund the apprenticeship programs, and it will hopefully require more members to work in the facility,” Tavarez said. “I think if this casino gets built, it’s gonna populate the area instead of it being unpopulated and dangerous.”
Dale Alleyne, business manager for Plasterers’ Local 262, also spoke in support of the project and gaming license.
“Of all the potential sites for gaming license, this is the only project where labor stands to gain new, good-paying union jobs that won’t exist without the license,” Alleyne said. “We have met with the team behind Caesars Palace Times Square for over four years, and they understand the importance of labor.”
Michael Wekselblatt, president of Local 1 International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, said that his union has supported every other major casino development in the city, but is opposing the Caesars development.
“Caesars did not make the presentation to us in the summer 0f 2022, rather it was by the real estate company SL Green,” Wekselblatt said. “I am sensitive to the needs of the realtors facing the reality of empty, non-revenue properties, but building a casino is a quick fix, is not a solution, so we are not in support of this project.”
Rina Saltzman, the secretary and treasurer of the Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers – IATSE Local 18032, also expressed concerns about the development, citing the impact the construction will have on crowds and noise. The project, Saltzman said, will impact Broadway’s recovery as the industry returns to pre-pandemic sales.
“It is our firm belief that bringing a casino into this area will not only threaten our recovery, but also the jobs that our members rely on for their livelihood,” Saltzman said. “To try and coordinate any kind of construction schedule around the multiple shows scheduled is a nightmare … it will be logistically impossible to maintain over a four-and-a-half-year period.”
Saltzman said that though the project could bring new jobs to the city if built elsewhere, it would do more harm than good in Times Square.
The commission is accepting public comments on the environmental review materials through 5:00 p.m. on June 13.
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