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BY SCOTT SIFFLER | The house doesn’t always “Wynn.” Forced to play a problematic hand dealt by growing and uncompromising opposition, Wynn Resorts announced on May 19, 2025 its decision“not to lodge an application for a gaming license in New York City.”

The three-sentence, two-paragraph statement–whose jilted subtext is as poorly camouflaged as it is deliciously campy–effectively removes gaming from a multibillion dollar development conceived in partnership with the Related Companies. The project would have seen office, housing, and open space along with a resort and casino rise up from Chelsea’s Western Rail Yards  (WRY).

To do so, however, requires amending the area’s restrictive zoning text–a hurdle that compelled the development team to embark upon a monied, months-long campaign to win hearts and minds. Appeals to Manhattan Community Board 4 (MCB4) and Manhattan Borough President (MBP) Mark Levine yielded negative results. Approval from the City Planning Commission bumped it up to the City Council, whose hearings on the matter began recently. (Their vote on the zoning text amendment had been expected in June, if not sooner.)

Bruised from tussles with MCB4 and MBP Levine–and with prospects for a favorable reception from the City Council fading fast, the developers were facing one more formidable hurdle. As detailed in this May 16, 2025 Chelsea Community News report, all NYC gaming license hopefuls must file their application by June 27, 2025. At that point, a Community Advisory Committee (CAC)) will be formed, comprised of individuals appointed (in the WRY case) by six electeds: NYS Governor Kathy Hochul, NYC Mayor Eric Adams, NYS Assemblymember Tony Simone, NYS Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, and NYC Council Member Erik Bottcher. 

For a gaming license application to be considered by New York State’s Gaming Facility Location Board, it must secure two-thirds approval from the applicable CAC. With that prospect looking grim, and a sudden groundswell of public support simply not in the cards, Wynn read the writing on the wall,  prompting their May 19 statement to declare, “The recent rezoning process has made it clear to us that there are uses for our capital more accretive to our shareholders,…than investing in an area in which we, or any casino operator, will face years of persistent opposition despite our willingness to employee 5,000 New Yorkers.”

NYC Council Member Erik Bottcher, whose District 3 coverage area includes WRY, penned a 1:27pm May 19 email to constituents delivering the Wynn announcement in downloadable form. If the Subject Line (My decision on the Western Rail Yards proposal) read as unabashed clickbait, those who clicked to open did indeed have their curiosity satiated by Bottcher’s opening paragraph–which noted, “After months of listening to my constituents and weighing what’s best for the future of our community, I’ve made my decision: I will not support a casino at the Western Rail Yards. This casino proposal did not meet the high bar of community support that such a consequential project demands.

Bottcher’s use of community support as a litmus test met with high praise from Council of Chelsea Block Associations (CCBA) President Susan Palmer Marshall, who responded to Chelsea Community News’ request for comment in a 6:10pm May 19 email that congratulated Council Member Bottcher for “making the right choice—not the easy choice—in opposing a casino at the Western Rail Yards. We thank him for standing up for the needs of his constituents and the community.”

Following Botttcher’s May 19 correspondence was a 4:55pm May 19 email from Friends of the High Line–whose Protect the High Line at the Rail Yards campaign opposed the development based, quite literally, on the long shadow cast upon the elevated park by WRY’s tall structures. The statement–attributed to Friends of the High Line Executive Director Alan van Capelle–noted its pleasure that “Related has listened to the community and realized that the original plan was not viable,” further stating, “The latest plans appear to address many of our concerns related to the impacts on the High Line, enhanced public space, and a much needed increase in affordable housing.”  

Bottcher, in the concluding portion of his May 19 statement, had already rendered Wynn’s casino a relec of the past, noting, “The Western Rail Yards pIan remains a once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver thousands of housing units and other benefits. In addition to the previously committed new public school, I’ve been able to win significant concessions from the applicant [Related] — concessions that meet nearly all of the community’s demands.” The share of affordable housing units has “increased dramatically — from just 8% to 25% — with up to 4,000 total apartments planned,” noted  the Council Member, who also said there’s been an expansion of public green space (from 5.6  to 6.6 acres) and the site plan “has been restored to resemble the original 2009 vision.” (That will come as welcome news to those who’ve been opposing the Related/Wynn plan based on its initial offer of far less affordable housing than what was promised in 2009.)

Four of Council Member Bottcher’s fellow electeds issued a joint statement on the morning of May 20. Attributed to Congressman Jerry Nadler, NYS Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, NYS Assemblymember Tony Simone, and MBP Mark Levine, it brought the group into alignment for the job ahead. “The west side of Manhattan has incredibly limited space for new development, which means we must ensure that plans for any vacant site meet the needs of the area,” began the statement, which also applauded Council Member Bottcher for “seizing this opportunity and negotiating an outcome that puts the community first. By eliminating a casino in the plan, greatly expanding the number of affordable units, increasing the size of green space, and aligning the site plan more closely with the 2009 proposal, this plan meets the moment in addressing our severe housing crisis.”

Council Member Bottcher’s public declaration of May 19 put a fitting coda on the welcome winds of change left in the wake of Wynn’s unlikely and unexpected exit. “This is a must-act moment for our city,” declared the District 3 Council Member, finding in that moment “a chance to deliver the housing, schools, and open space New Yorkers so urgently need. We can’t afford to let this opportunity slip away. I look forward to advancing this ULURP and helping turn this long-promised vision into real progress for the West Side and for all of New York.”

NOTE: To read CCNews’ May 16 report on the influence a CAC might have had if Wynn’s casino stayed in the WRY plan, click here or see it reproduced directly below.

Fold or Call: Chelsea Casino’s Fate TBD by City Council & CAC

BY SCOTT STIFFLER| Snake eyes or jackpot? We’re weeks away from knowing if a multi-tiered City vetting process deals a winning hand to a $13 Billion development project–and just over a month away from the formation of a committee that could beef up the plan’s prospects or lead its all-important cash cow to slaughter.

For months, the Related Companies and Wynn Resorts partnership has campaigned to amend City zoning text. Aa currently written, it would prohibit the gaming aspects of a $13 Billion+ development that would put affordable and market-rate housing, office and open space, and a resort replete with casino atop and around Chelsea’s long-dormant Western Rail Yards (WRY).

The Zoning text amendment effort was first considered by Manhattan Community Board 4 (MCB4), which gave it a frosty reception. Said MCB4 District Manager Jesse Bodine of the full board’s January 26, 2025 unanimous vote (save 1 present-not-eligible), “I can say during my ten years on the board, we have not done a “deny” only for any DCP land use application [until this one].”

The matter then moved to Manhattan Borough President (MBP) Mark Levine. Citing a voluminous influx of constituent concerns about air quality, construction noise, shadows cast by new structures, and insufficient affordable housing, MBP Levine’s Valentine’s Day 2025 Recommendation showed little love for the project as is–but left the door open pending compromise and consensus. “These issues are resolvable,” he wrote, “and for the sake of future generations we need to find a viable solution for this empty lot.”

The zoning text amendment application then received approval from NYC’S City Planning Commission (CPC)–a fact Related/Wynn happily referenced in a press release. Quoting from a presentation made during a meeting held two days prior to its April 9 vote, the press release noted CPC’s declaration that the project “will create a dynamic, vibrant and valuable series of buildings and public areas” as well as its assessment of new green space as an “invaluable amenity.” 

The matter is now before the NYC Council–whose decisive vote, subject only to rarely invoked mayoral override, is expected in June if not sooner. Influential in that vote is District 3 Council Member Erik Bottcher, whose coverage area includes Chelsea’s WRY.

Text amendment results aside, the project’s casino plan will be forced to fold unless it acquires a gaming license. For the application to be considered by New York State’s Gaming Facility Location Board, it must secure two-thirds approval from a Community Advisory Committee (CAC). Six electeds–NYS Governor Kathy Hochul, NYC Mayor Eric Adams, NYS Assemblymember Tony Simone, NYS Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, and NYC Council Member Erik Bottcher–will appoint one person each. Noted a NYS Gsming rep in a May 2, 2025 email to Chelsea Community News (CCNews), “By law, the elected official is the appointing authority for their CAC member. However, there is nothing in the law that prevents a CAC appointing authority from naming themselves to their CAC. “

With CACs set to form immediately after June 27, 2025’s gaming license application deadline, CCNews reached out, repeatedly, to the six electeds regarding where they stand on the notion of a WRY casino and who their CAC appointee will be. Only one responded. In a May 13 email to CCNews, a City Hall spokesperson noted that NYC Mayor Eric Adams “supports a fair, competitive process to open a new casino in New York City, which would bring good-paying union jobs and an economic boost to the community. It does not matter to him which proposal is selected by the state so long as the casino is in New York City. Any [CAC] appointments will be announced at the appropriate time.”

Other appointing authorities have gone on record, some going back to before any actual proposals had been revealed. At a September 28, 2023 Town Hall (covered by CCNews here), its host, NYS Assemblymember Tony Simone, said, “Very few constituents want to see it,” further noting, “I am personally opposed to a casino on the West Side.”

At that same Town Hall, Council Member Bottcher said he’d be “surprised” if, ultimately, “any [casinos] get approved.” Flash forward to Wednesday, May 7, 2025: At a Council District 3 Candidate Forum on Preservation, Andrew Berman, Executive Director of event presenter Village Preservation, asked,  “What is your position on the proposed casino plan for the Western Hudson Rail Yards?”

Recalling how “the community came out and expressed a broad opposition to this proposal” at an April 29 City Council Subcommittee on Zoning & Franchises meeting (its first to take up the matter), Council Member Bottcher said, “Something like a casino needs to have a broad level of support–a critical mass of support…You’re never going to get New Yorkers to agree 100% on everything, but it has to have a substantial amount of buy-in from the community.”

An Our Town article published on February 12, 2024 (with the telling headline, Another Town Hall Where Locals Mostly Rail Against Casinos in Manhattan) quoted NYS Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal on the need to “center the community and insure [sic] community members have the opportunity to have their voices heard. I’m going to be using my involvement with the community advisory committee…to do just that: insure [sic] that the proposals–and there are two of them in my district on the west side of Manhattan–are first and foremost beneficial to and desired by the community around it.”

The will of those living near a proposed casino location was also on the Senator’s mind at Village Preservation’s April 16, 2025 Manhattan Borough President Candidate Forum on Preservation, where Hoylman-Sigal said, “I’m opposed to Casinos, end of story…This is about whether a community wants a casino or not…And that’s why we have a Community Advisory Committee…I haven’t had a constituent–a voting, living, breathing member of Manhattan–come up to me, grab me by the lapels and say, ‘Senator Hoylman-Sigal, we need a casino in my neighborhood.’ I don’t think it’s going to happen.”

Chelsea Community News will continue to follow this story. Notes nycasinos.ny.gov here, “CACs must vote on their respective project by September 30, 2025. Those Applicants approved by their CAC will then submit supplemental application material – including a proposed tax rate – to the Board for evaluation and consideration. The Board expects to make decisions by December 1, 2025, followed by Commission licensure by December 31, 2025.”

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