Not long after he bought the Mets for $2.4 billion, the hedge-fund baron Steven A. Cohen had a deal in mind that was several times more lucrative. He wanted to build a massive casino and resort next door to the Mets' home in Queens, Citi Field. If it worked, it would be one of the city's largest real-estate development projects in decades.
Plans to turn a former nightclub and restaurant in the London Trocadero into a two-storey casino have been given the green light by planning officers. The casino will cater for up to 1,250 customers and include a restaurant on the ground floor of the building on Coventry Street in the West End. The proposal, submitted by national casino operator Genting Casinos UK Ltd, was granted planning permission at a committee meeting on September 30.
I know what it feels like when our borough is left behind," said Alex Porco, a committee member appointed by state Sen. Nathalia Fernandez, who voted for the project. "This project will finally mean self-sufficiency for the Bronx.
The Soho Society opposed the plans saying allowing another large, "alcohol-led" gambling venue in the area could lead to more antisocial behaviour. They said Coventry Street already struggles with pedestrian congestion, noise and litter and has an over-concentration of late-night venues. Genting Casinos denies the venue will be alcohol-led. It said the casino would be "highly regulated and subject to an operational management plan".
After the final public hearing on the proposed Avenir casino in Hell's Kitchen, the Community Advisory Committee overseeing the project is now tasked with weighing two starkly different visions of the neighborhood's future one cast as a community in dire need of a shot in the arm, the other as a family-friendly enclave already choked with congestion that a casino would ruin.
We believe that this is the only location, having looked at them all, been approached by other partners, where a casino will blend seamlessly into the identity and the character of a neighborhood that really needs an upgrade, Ballotti said.
