wsj OP t1_j5v3ybq wrote on January 25, 2023 at 7:51 PM

Hey everyone, Maddie here from the WSJ. We have a story out today on the future of gambling in the city and I thought you might find it interesting:

Gambling companies are competing to build a casino in Manhattan, but local officials could force projects to move outside the heart of the city.

From Jimmy Vielkind and Katherine Sayre:

>Real-estate and casino developers are pitching several sites in midtown Manhattan, including on the top floors of the Saks Fifth Avenue across from Rockefeller Center and in the very heart of Times Square. It’s vital to be near the city center to draw the right mix of tourists and wealthy clients, they said.
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>For years, New Yorkers have had to leave the city limits to gamble at full-fledged casinos in Atlantic City or rural Connecticut. Four casinos in upstate New York have opened since 2014. Now, state gambling regulators are conducting a competitive bid process for three downstate licenses. Industry players expect two will go to video-slot parlors that already operate in Yonkers and another near John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens—essentially leaving only one up for grabs.
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>…State and local officials who represent midtown Manhattan have been openly skeptical about casinos, though they haven’t shut the door entirely. Construction of housing is a more pressing concern in a part of the city where the median monthly rent now exceeds $4,000.
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>“There’s going to be an uphill road for any site in Manhattan,” said Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, a Democrat.