Strike three, Manhattan’s out.
The Community Advisory Committee (CAC) overseeing the Freedom Plaza casino proposal rejected the $11 billion East Side development on Monday — slamming the door shut on the third and final bid for a full Vegas-style casino in Manhattan.
The six-member panel voted 4–2 against advancing the project, with only the representatives appointed by Mayor Eric Adams (Jennifer Sta. Ines) and Gov. Kathy Hochul (Nichols Silbersack) in support. The vote outcome mirrors the fate of other now-defunct Manhattan casino proposals in Hell’s Kitchen and Times Square.
Those voting no on Freedom Plaza included Sandra McKee, the chair and representative of Senator Kristen Gonzalez; Reshma Patel, representing Assembly Member Harvey Epstein; Celeste Royo, appointed by Borough President Mark Levine; and Jasmine Narula, representing Council Member Keith Powers.
McKee told amNewYork as she exited the meeting room on 3rd Avenue and East 43rd Street that the committee received a considerable number of responses both for and against the project, but that opponents ultimately made up the majority. She added that a supplementary report explaining the vote will be published at a later date.
The downvote marks a major blow for developers Soloviev Group and Mohegan Sun, who had touted Freedom Plaza as a transformative project that would create 17,000 union jobs and deliver billions in annual economic impact.
The decision followed nearly two years of heated debate, public hearings, and intense community pushback over the plan to redevelop a stretch of Midtown East into a sprawling mixed-use complex. The project called for 1,080 residential units — 600 of them permanently affordable — alongside a hotel, a five-acre public park, a museum, retail, and an underground casino.
On Sept. 18, Freedom Plaza developers made a last-ditch effort to sweeten the deal ahead of Monday’s vote. They submitted an amendment to their application that promised all 1,080 housing units would be permanently affordable instead of the previously promised 50%. The amendment was rejected in a 4-2 vote.
Despite the CAC finding that a majority of locals to the site were against having a casino in their neighborhood, Soloviev Group CEO, Michael Hershman, said he was humbled by the “overwhelming support” expressed by neighbors, community and civic organizations, and our faith, labor, and workforce partners.
“We are proud of our partnership with Mohegan and the vision that informed this project that would have revitalized Midtown East and delivered for workers, residents, and organizations across this city,” Hershaman said in a statement following the vote. “Manhattan is the undisputed capital of the world, and it deserved a fully integrated resort that would have attracted visitors while serving the needs of its community.”
Last Friday, following the defeat of the Times Square and Hell’s Kitchen casino bids, Mayor Eric Adams released a report highlighting the benefits of each proposal in contention for one of three downstate licenses. Casting the Dice: Casinos in New York City highlighted the financial, economic, and design impacts of each casino proposal in the five boroughs. The report also outlined seven general recommendations for all parties involved in the licensing process to consider as proposals move forward.
After Monday’s downvote on Freedom Plaza, City Hall spokesperson William Fowler criticized the CAC for removing Manhattan from consideration before the state review portion of the application process got underway.
“Using their representatives on three community advisory committees, elected officials have unfairly taken Manhattan out of the game before it even began,” Fowler said. “This is an unfortunate outcome, as more proposals foster competition, leading to stronger plans that deliver greater public benefits. To be clear, this is not simply a rejection of a new casino in Manhattan — it is a rejection of new housing, new schools, billions of dollars in investment, and more for the borough.”
‘Blatant manipulation’
The final vote from the CAC followed two heated public hearings held on Aug. 28 and Sept. 15, during which local residents faced off with employees of the Soloviev Group and the Connecticut-based Mohegan Sun, as well as NYC unions and business groups.
“It was like being at an offsite for Mohegan Sun,” sisters Geory Moore-Murray and Carol Moore, who live in Tudor City, said of the last public hearing.
Both women said they were hopeful going into Monday’s vote, only thinking “we’re going to lose now” after hearing the last-minute amendment pledging 100% affordable housing.
The 6.7 acres of empty land between 38th and 41st streets, 1st Avenue, and FDR Drive, which is among the largest undeveloped lots in Manhattan, was once home to Con Edison Waterside Power Plant until its demolition in the early 2000s. The Soloviev Group had been granted permission to build on the site back in 2008, but it has sat idle for several years.
Late last year, Soloviev loaned out the land to British Artist Bruce Munro, who opened the large-scale “Field of Light” art exhibit, allowing the public to walk through winding pathways lit up by thousands of small LED lights.
“Ever since they took the Con Edison structure down, we knew that they were going to do something with it, and we don’t have any opposition to that. It’s just that we don’t want a casino,” said Geory, who was brought to tears when the vote was called.
“This is our neighborhood that we love. It’s very family friendly, and we’re a landmark building, and this casino would have been right out our window,” Geory said, adding that the fight had stretched on for at least two years. Carol noted that traffic alone was enough reason to oppose the project: “First Avenue…there are times when the average speed is 5.2 miles an hour. So, can you imagine the casino with all these additional people and additional vehicles? Forget it.”
Other opponents to the casino, celebrating the decision at Monday’s meeting, had pointed to fears of greater traffic congestion near hospitals, risks of gambling addiction, and disruption to the residential character of the historic East Side neighborhood.
Mubeem, a local resident, said, “We were very, very trepidatious, very nervous” about the Sept. 22 meeting, but ultimately left relieved and thankful for the elected officials “who represented the voice of the neighborhood, as opposed to letting big corporations win here.”
“People will come work and leave, but we are here with our children, our elders, and we want to make sure that the neighborhood, the quality and essence of the neighborhood, is preserved,” she said. “We have nothing against Mohegan Sun or Soloviev, but it belongs in a commercial property, not in a residential neighborhood.”
When Tania Arias first heard of the development, she handwrote letters to the board president of every building in the neighborhood to discuss how they felt about a casino in Murray Hill, “and everyone was against it.”
“And so it began a grassroots movement that blossomed into a community coming out against it, because this is a community that desperately needs affordable housing. It desperately needs help with our small businesses, but we don’t need a casino that serves only the developer,” said Arias, adding that having a casino a couple of blocks from the United Nations headquarters would have been “an embarrassment.”
“This is the center of the diplomatic world; the last thing we needed was a casino in our midst,” she said.
Arias was among the residents to attend both public hearings and told amNewYork she was glad to have seen the developers stack the deck of speakers testifying because “it actually worked against them, because it was such a blatant manipulation.”
“In a way, I was happy that this happened because it was just very manipulative. And New Yorkers are smarter than that. We’re a tough lot,” Arias added.
The elected officials who had appointed members to the CAC —Powers, Levine, Gonzalez, and Epstein — issued a joint statement commending the committee’s decision and looking ahead to the site’s future:
“As elected representatives of Midtown East, we commend the CAC for conducting an inclusive, transparent, and collaborative process that prioritized gathering comprehensive community input.
Over the past three months, the CAC has heard extensive feedback from thousands of concerned local residents, business owners, and workers, as well as the Freedom Plaza Project team. Our neighbors on the East Side of Manhattan have communicated to us, and to the CAC, through hours of public hearings, significant concerns regarding increased congestion, public safety, and the quality of life concerns this project would introduce into our community.
For this reason, we support the CAC’s decision today to not advance the casino proposal at Freedom Plaza. We look forward to continuing to work with the Soloviev Group to accomplish the goal of activating this site for permanent affordable housing, green space, good-paying jobs, and more.”
