East Side ‘Freedom Plaza’ Casino Bid Crashes After CAC ‘No’ Vote

There will be no casino projects arriving in Manhattan after a crucial committee voted against the last standing proposal, Soloviev Group and Mohegan Sun’s East Side “Freedom Plaza” complex.

The “Community Advisory Committee” assembled to consider the project delivered the bid the same fate as its West Side competitors, Silverstein’s “Avenir” and Caesars Palace’s Time Square, with two “yes” votes butting up against four “nays.”

The three bids had hoped to snag one of three downstate licenses being offered by the NYS Gaming Commission. Another prominent bid, Related Co.’s Hudson Yards proposal, was retracted after significant community pushback before the vote.

Much as on the West Side, representatives for Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams stood in favor of the “Freedom Plaza” project. Local representatives provided the fatal blow; they were acting on behalf of outgoing City Council Member Keith Powers, State Senator Kristen Gonzalez, State Assembly Member Harvey Epstein, and Borough President Mark Levine.

Powers, Epstein, Levine, and Gonzalez issued a joint statement explaining their no votes: “Our neighbors on the East Side of Manhattan have communicated to us, and to the CAC, through hours of public hearings, significant concerns regarding increased congestion, public safety, and the quality-of-life concerns this project would introduce into our community. For this reason, we support the CAC’s decision today to not advance the casino proposal at Freedom Plaza.”

“We look forward to continuing to work with the Soloviev Group to accomplish the goal of activating this site for permanent affordable housing, green space, good-paying jobs, and more,” they added.

Virginia Maloney, the Democratic candidate seeking to fill the City Council seat being vacated by term-limited Keith Powers, applauded the move by the CAC.

“I fully support the Freedom Plaza Community Advisory Committee (CAC)’s no vote on the First Avenue casino license application in District 4. Their decision reflects the overwhelming consensus of the East Siders I’ve spoken with throughout my campaign,” she said in a statement of her own.

“The East River waterfront should be a vibrant community asset, not a destination for high-rollers,” she added. “Right now, residents contend with crumbling pavement, sinkholes, and chronic flooding just to enjoy our waterfront. That won’t change if the East River Esplanade continues to be underfunded and overlooked.”

Soloviev Group CEO Michael Hershman issued a more somber statement: “We have been humbled by the overwhelming support expressed by neighbors, community and civic organizations, and our faith, labor, and workforce partners. Manhattan is the undisputed capital of the world, and it deserved a fully integrated resort that would have attracted visitors while serving the needs of its community.”

”Freedom Plaza” would have been built on a stretch of the East River near the United Nations, between East 38th and East 41st streets. The bid involved plenty of splashy sweeteners by the developers, such as a $250-million “community reinvestment fund” that would have been headed by the National Urban League, as well as the promise to build 1,080 apartments, 600 of which would have reportedly been permanently affordable.

There would also have been the construction of something called the Museum of Freedom & Democracy. All of this would have ostensibly been sustained by union labor, leading to support from organizations such as the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Service Employees Union.

Nonetheless, at a final public hearing held on Sept. 15, some locals expressed their rage about a casino possibly coming into their midst. Mark and Cynthia Harris, residents of Tudor City, were particularly scalding; Mark compared the bid to 20th-century developments that would have altered nearby playgrounds and parks, while Cynthia said that “nobody” she had spoken to was “in favor of a casino being put right in front of our face!”

There are now four remaining bids vying for a license elsewhere in the city. They include a Bally’s Bronx bid at the Ferry Point Golf Links, a Coney Island bid, a Hard Rock bid near Citi Field (led by Mets owner Steve Cohen), and a Resorts World bid at the Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens. There is also an MGM bid at the Empire City racino in Yonkers, just over the Bronx border, as well as a bid arranged around the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island.

The $3.4-billion Coney Island bid may be dead in the water as of Sept. 22, as three members of the CAC—City Council Member Justin Brannan, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, and State Senator Jessica Scarcella-Spanton—announced that their representatives would be voting “no.” To stay in the hunt, the bid can’t afford another defection.