Officials are poised to move forward Monday with citywide zoning reforms that will make way for casinos in New York City, as gaming giants and real estate developers vie for three prized downstate operating licenses.
The zoning amendment — which would legalize casinos in certain commercial and manufacturing areas, assuming they obtain a gaming license from the state — is expected to enter the roughly seven-month land use process at a meeting of the City Planning Commission.
While the specifics of at least nine casino bids in New York City will be reviewed by local advisory committees in the coming months, the citywide initiative is intended to ensure the gaming applications as a whole are “not at a competitive disadvantage” in the ongoing state process compared to those in surrounding counties, Department of City Planning Director Dan Garodnick and City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said in a statement last month.
It also ensures the city won’t be deluged with individual land use applications from each of the casino bidders. The licensing process requires that applicants obtain local land use approvals before they’re considered by the state gaming commission.
Under the proposed text amendment, gaming facilities would be permitted in specified commercial and manufacturing zones with a state license, and those facilities would be “deemed complying and conforming with all applicable use and bulk zoning regulations,” according to a description of the proposed changes.
“Other non-casino uses such as hotels, restaurants, bars, eating or drinking establishments, as well as other amenities, may be included with the State approval and license, and will also be deemed as being in compliance with the Zoning Resolution,” the description states.
The proposal will be reviewed by the city’s 59 community boards, five borough presidents and come up for a vote by the Council sometime next year.
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CITY HALL GAVE PRIORITY TO TOP DEVELOPER — THE CITY’s Greg B. Smith: “The internal email sent to multiple FDNY chiefs in the spring of 2022 ordered that the fire alarm system inspection at 50 Hudson Yards be expedited, and it made clear where this dictate was coming from: the office of Mayor Eric Adams.
“The gleaming glass 77-story office tower built by The Related Companies on the far West Side was set to open later that year, and since Adams had arrived at City Hall that January, the mega-developer had been lobbying top mayoral staff, including Adams’ then–chief of staff Frank Carone, on the development of Hudson Yards.
“‘The request to expedite Hudson Yards comes from the Office of the Commissioner as a top priority from city hall,’ the April 8th email from FDNY Deputy Chief Kevin Murphy advised. Murphy added that if other inspections had to be rebooked to clear the deck for the 50 Hudson Yards job, so be it: ‘Any feedback or consequences from rescheduled/cancelled inspections on other affected projects can be handled by’ top tier chiefs in the department ‘if necessary.’”
FAREBEATING COSTING MTA MILLIONS — New York Post’s Nolan Hicks: “Farebeating on the Big Apple’s bus and subway systems is rising, costing the MTA millions of dollars a year — despite a series of major efforts launched to try and stop evaders, new data shows. Nearly half (41 percent) of bus riders commuted without paying on routes across the city during the third quarter of 2023, according to the figures from the MTA.
“That’s up 4% from when the agency released its exhaustive farebeating report in May. On the MTA’s Select Bus Service, which operates some of the busiest routes in New York City, fare dodging is as high as 48%, the data shows. Skipping out on fares is also increasing on the subway system too.”
NY’S TAX CLIMATE AMONG THE WORST — Crain’s Jack Grieve: “A conservative-leaning think tank that assesses the tax climate in each state ranked New York among the worst in the country. The Tax Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit policy group, released its annual State Business Tax Climate Index report last month. Rather than focusing strictly on how much states levy, the report aims to evaluate how well tax systems are structured.”
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LLC REFORM ON HOCHUL’S DESK — Gothamist’s Jon Campbell and David Brand: “Gov. Kathy Hochul will soon have to decide on a bill that would allow the public to know the true owners behind limited liability companies in New York — a measure that is spurring a lobbying battle among some of her biggest campaign supporters.
“In June, Democrats in the state Legislature approved the LLC Transparency Act, a bill largely mirroring a soon-to-take-effect federal law requiring LLCs to reveal the name of their ‘beneficial owners’ — the people who control the company. But the New York bill goes a significant step further than the federal law.”
OFFICE LANDLORDS CAN’T GET LOANS — Wall Street Journal’s Konrad Putzier: “The office sector’s credit crunch is intensifying. By one measure, it’s now worse than during the 2008-09 global financial crisis. Only one out of every three securitized office mortgages that expired during the first nine months of 2023 was paid off by the end of September, according to Moody’s Analytics.
“That is the smallest share for the first nine months of any year since at least 2008 and well below the nadir reached in 2009, when 47% of these loans got paid off. That share is also well below the rate before the pandemic, when more than eight out of every 10 maturing securitized office mortgages were paid back in some years.”
NEW BASEMENT APARTMENT PROGRAM — New York Times’ Mihir Zaveri: “To address the big problem of New York’s housing crisis, the city is trying something small: payments to homeowners to build apartments in their garages and attics. On Tuesday, officials announced a program that would give 15 owners of single-family homes up to $400,000 each for such projects, which could include building detached units or retrofitting basements.
“Recipients will be restricted by income — the ceiling for a family of four will be $232,980, with priority given to lower incomes — and those interested will be able to apply on the city’s website on Tuesday.”
— The real estate firm NuVerse Advisors is moving ahead with a 125-unit mixed-use project in Astoria.
— City Council member Robert Holden is raising concerns the city agency responsible for weather-related emergencies is not involved in the mayor’s ‘City of Yes’ initiative.
— Developers are moving forward with a massive office and housing plan near the Broadway Junction transit hub.
