SL Green and Caesars are hoping to build a new casino in Times Square.
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Members of Manhattan Community Board 5 recommended rejection Thursday night of two large-scale plans that could have major implications on Midtown redevelopment.
The board passed resolutions opposing a Mayor Eric Adams-backed plan that would fast-track the development of casinos, as well as Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Penn Station-area redevelopment plan. In both motions, the advisory panel argued the plans would discourage housing development in the district.
The board unanimously passed its resolution against the casino zoning text amendment. The move adds Board 5 to a growing number of Manhattan community boards to do so.
Its resolution concerning the Penn Station redevelopment plan passed with a few members voting against. Though the board has a history of opposition to the Penn Station plan and has overwhelmingly passed resolutions against various elements of it before, three members disagreed on the substance of this particular strain of criticism.
The city casino zoning proposal would create a map of certain commercial or industrial zoning districts, which would frictionlessly permit casino development, instead of using the city’s zoning process called the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, or ULURP, which would force each proposed site to go through an individual review.
“It basically gives up any opportunity to say what a casino should look like, what kind of bulk, what kind of signage, what kind of public realm around each specific casino should actually be required,” said Layla Law-Gisiko, the board’s Land Use Committee chair.
Law-Gisiko also raised the issue that the plan would create a regulatory vacuum on the land use of each site. She said that this could cause problems if the casino decided it wanted to build a hotel — a type of zoning that is by special permit only and requires considerable community input.
The board’s second resolution…
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