New York City Community Council rejects city plan to speed up casino review
New York City’s Community Council is unhappy with Mayor Eric Adams’ (D) plan to have the city review casino applications.
The Adams administration plans to implement a review process for the city's upcoming casino offering that would eliminate the ability of community boards to formally comment on the multibillion-dollar project.
If Adams' proposed changes were implemented, CB would have no say in casino deliberations. At last week's meeting, Community Board 4, which includes Hell's Kitchen and Chelsea on Manhattan's West Side, voted against Adam's plan to bypass the CB listing.
City programs that plan to leave everything to the state are a disgrace," CB member Delores Rubin said, according to digital nonprofit news service The City."You actually It is a waste of every opportunity to achieve the goals that urban planning strives for, but more importantly, the goals that every community strives for. "
There are 59 Community Boards in New York City. Each committee is composed of volunteer members appointed by the District Chair and Council members.
CB members must live or work in the board community they wish to represent. Government-related committees perform advisory functions in their regions. They are most often asked to comment on land use and zoning issues.
Atypical Project Evaluation
When a new commercial project is proposed in New York City, the city government typically requires the developer to undergo the Uniform Land Use Review Process (ULURP). ULURP is initiated when a project requires a change of land use, a change in zoning or the sale of city property.
However, Adams said ULURPs are unnecessary for the city's review of casino bids because they would effectively double the state's consideration of each playing field.
Under state law, for a downstate casino to be eligible for review by the New York Gaming Facility Location Commission, the project must first gain support from the local Community Advisory Committee (CAC). Each casino is assigned a six-member CAC, with Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), Adams, borough presidents and state senators, representatives and city council members each appointing one committee member.
The CAC will be responsible for reviewing land use and zoning changes for the proposed casino project. The City Planning Commission must first vote to abandon the ULURP for the casino bid before the measure can go to the City Council and Adams for final approval.
East End Casino Update
New York state is expected to receive bids for more than a dozen casinos, including one from the Soloviev Group. The ballpark targets about seven acres of undeveloped land south of the United Nations headquarters, between 38th and 41st streets between First and Roosevelt avenues.
Soloviev proposed building a 1,200-room hotel and more than 1,300 residential units, about 500 of which would be reserved as affordable housing. Soloviev, who partners with Mohegan for casino operations, last week announced the resort's newest concept amenity - a luxury Banyan Tree-branded wellness resort.
Banyan Tree is a Singapore-based hotel brand that operates resorts, hotels and spas across Asia and the Middle East. If Soloviev's promotion wins one of the state's three casino licenses, Banyan Tree will bring its first wellness resort to the United States via Manhattan's East Side.
Read also:
- Blackjack Casino Advantage: How to Beat the Odds
- Football 101: What is relegation in football?
- Sands China focuses on entertainment, partners with Tencent
- Macau casinos closed as Typhoon Sara makes landfall
Source: www.casino.org
