The race for a new casino property in New York City is heating up with many properties, companies, and individuals bidding for the rights to open the first casino that will include live gaming. One of those bidders is The Water Club located on 30th Street and the East River in Kips Bay, but the locals wouldn’t have it.
No Casino at The Water Club, Please
NIMBYs or otherwise, concerns about the arrival of a casino project have been raised among many people in the area, the New York Post wrote in a brief report on public perception of why the casino should or should not happen in the first place. Even the Water Club is a bit much, some residents interviewed by the media argued.
The concerns are pretty understandable. Locals fear that their peace and quiet would be disturbed by the 24,000 sq ft property which will attract a noisy crowd and thus ruin an otherwise idyllic place of the town. However, casinos may be the economic grease that gets the money flowing in, argues board member Daniel Devine who believes that a casino project is overall needed and for better and for worse, it would be arriving at some point..
He even goes further and argues that it should be in the Kips Bay district. Another board member, Sandra McKee, though was loath of the idea and pointed out that there already was another casino – ono Rockaway Boulevard. She urged Devine to go ahead and play there if he wanted to.
No Shortage of Worthy Applicants
But a moratorium on casino expansion is soon set to expire next year and state governor Kathy Hochul is keen to hand down three licenses even this year. A small hurdle here comes from whether the stated budget voting would grant the go-ahead. With three casino licenses to go, there is no shortage of candidates. Anyone from Hard Rock International to Wynn Resorts, to Las Vegas Sands are looking to secure an entry in the Empire State and have all submitted their bids already.
In fact, there are even proposals to build a futuristic casino in New York pitched by Jason Ader, an investor, financial analyst, and executive of various gaming-related ventures. He recently announced a New York casino pitch that involved a launchpad for flying cars along with Bitcoin gambling on the casino floor.