The Large Apple is about to roll the cube on playing, and lots of billionaire traders need to attempt their luck at profitable the large prize.
Elected officers have lastly licensed one on line casino license within the Large Apple (that is proper—only one for a metropolis of 8 million folks), inflicting an enormous and generally ugly bidding struggle between numerous rich suitors.
One celebration is nonother than Jay-Z and his leisure firm Roc Nation. The entrepreneur well-known for saying, “I am not a businessman, I am a enterprise, man,” has teamed up with SL Inexperienced and Caesars Leisure to suggest constructing a Caesars Palace within the coronary heart of bustling Occasions Sq..
In an open letter on Roc Nation’s Instagram and Twitter titled “It is Time, Occasions Sq.,” the corporate made a case for why they need to be granted New York Metropolis’s playing golden ticket.
“The profitable group should have a monitor document of turning phrases into deeds — of placing New York Metropolis and its residents first — folks of all races, religions, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations and socio-economic statuses,” the assertion stated. “Our proposal lays out an modern plan that won’t solely draw further vacationers to our metropolis however may also improve the lives of on a regular basis New Yorkers.”
Jay-Z’s plan guarantees to provide again to surrounding companies, profit mass transit, put money into sanitation and safety, and “ship a much-needed transportation plan,” amongst different issues. “Our bid commits $115 million for numerous theater applications that embrace daycare for Broadway employees and their households,” the letter stated.
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An all-out bidding struggle
New York voters accepted of Las Vegas-like casinos of their state in 2013. Nevertheless it wasn’t till final 12 months that elected officers in Albany licensed on line casino licenses for downstate New York, together with New York Metropolis, Lengthy Island, and Westchester County.
The prospect of opening a completely operational on line casino within the largest metropolis in America has billionaires salivating to turn out to be the King of New York casinos. Apart from Jay-Z, different bidders embrace New York Mets proprietor Steve Cohen, Gristedes grocery store scion John Catsimatidis, and Hudson Yards developer Stephen Ross.
“Each billionaire needs a on line casino. The epitome of success within the US is to personal your individual on line casino,” a supply instructed The New York Submit.
Nonetheless, the billionaires have totally different concepts about the place they need to construct their casinos. Cohen has teamed up with Exhausting Rock and desires to open a on line casino round Citi Subject in Queens, the place the Mets play. Catsimatidis is eyeing Coney Island, well-known for its boardwalk, amusement park, and sizzling canine consuming contest. Ross, who has partnered with Wynn, needs to place the on line casino within the newly developed Hudson Yards.
Accusations of a ‘misinformation’ marketing campaign
The Roc Nation letter, which additionally appeared in adverts within the New York Submit, New York Every day Information, and Amsterdam Information, accused some “conflicted events” of spreading “misinformation,” claiming that they had written the letter to set the document straight.
Whereas Roc Nation didn’t title names, some consider they might be referring to a coalition of Broadway theater homeowners and producers, the midtown Manhattan neighborhood, and tenant organizations calling themselves No Occasions Sq. On line casino.
In response to an article in Deadline, the coalition opposes constructing a Caesars Palace in Occasions Sq., additionally dwelling to most Broadway theaters, citing visitors congestion, financial disruption, and making the realm “much less welcoming to households.”
