By: Hellen Zaboulani
New York City’s billionaires are bidding for the chance to build the new casino approved for the Big Apple. NY Legislators approved three downstate legal casinos, and while two of those are expected to go to expanding existing ‘racinos’ (including at Resorts World in Aqueduct and MGM-Empire City in Yonkers) the third all new casino to be built is up for grabs.
As reported by the NY Post, the city’s big players are all betting this will be a moneymaker, and are all working to submit bids to build the casino. “Every billionaire wants a casino. The epitome of success in the US is to own your own casino,” one source familiar with the casino industry told The Post. Mets owner and hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen has teamed up with gaming giant Hard Rock International to offer a casino at Citi Field. Cohen is also building a planned NYCFC soccer stadium on the Flushing Meadows property. Cohen, 66, who boasts a net worth of $12.8 billion is considered a top contender because of his reputation for big spending. “Steve Cohen will spend more money than anyone,” Alan Woinski, president of the casino consultant Gaming USA, told The Post. “He likes to do whatever it takes to get what he wants.”.
As per the Post, another bidder for the legal casino license is Related Co, the real estate giant led by Stephen Ross, 82. The Miami Dolphins owner, who has an estimated net worth of $8.39 billion, has partnered with Wynn Resorts and Casinos to make a bid for Hudson Yards. “If I had to have a Manhattan casino, Hudson Yards is where I would want it to be,”Woinski commented. “And it helps that they have Wynn Resorts, one of the most successful casino companies, as a partner.”
Real-estate scion Stefan Soloviev, 47, son of the late developer Sheldon Solow, is submitting a bid too. He would build his casino on First Avenue between 38th and 40th Streets, near the UN building, on six blank-slate acres overlooking the East River. He also wants to add a deluxe Ferris wheel, green spaces and a museum. He is in talks with several Las Vegas gaming companies to forge a partnership. “We hope politicians will realize our project is not just a casino,” Soloviev told the Post.
John Catsimatidis, 74-year-old political talk show host and CEO of grocery chain Gristedes Foods who has a net worth of $4.1 billion, is also eyeing his options to open a legal casino in Staten Island. “We are not an official bidder at this point,” Catsimatidis told The Post. “We have some interest and we are proceeding with caution.” He still hasn’t partnered with a casino company, and there is already a competing bid in the borough by Thor Equities, joined by Saratoga Casino Holdings.
Music mogul Jay-Z has also thrown his hat into the ring. The 53-year-old has a net worth of $1.5 billion and has partnered with Caesars Entertainment as well as NYC commercial real-estate firm SL Green to make a bid for Times Square. SL Green owns a 54-story office building between 44th and 45th Streets, at 1515 Broadway, which it would convert into a casino, with restaurants, a theater and a hotel. “They have a lot of opposition,” Woinski told the Post, regarding Jay-Z and SL Green’s bid.
