The Bally’s casino proposal is a proxy fight over the future of member deference and pro-housing cred.
Last April, the City Council added gaming facilities as an allowable use in the zoning code. The change would simply allow casino proposals to move forward without having to first go through the city’s land use review process simply to exist.
The measure was framed as a way to “level the playing field” for the various casino proposals, ensuring the Council couldn’t kill a contender at that early stage.
But when it came to zoning changes needed for individual casino proposals — all bets were off.
The lack of support from Council member Erik Bottcher killed Related Companies’ Hudson Yards casino dreams. The firm, instead, moved forward with changes to a 2009 rezoning in the Western Railyards. Presumably, the mayor would have vetoed the Council’s decision if that project had come to a vote, but the Council likely would have overrode it. We’ll never know.
On Wednesday, the mayor vetoed the Council’s rejection of the zoning changes needed for the Bally’s Bronx casino proposal. The Council sided with local Council member Kristy Marmorato, who referred to the project as a “predatory development” and one that “did not meet the standards her community deserves.”
The Council adhered to member deference, the tradition of voting on land use issues based on the position of the local Council member.
In a statement on Wednesday, Marmorato framed the veto as an attack on the City Council’s authority and the New Yorkers who elect their representatives, saying the mayor’s “attempt to remove Council authority and override the voices of our local communities is sickening.”
Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who was among the votes in favor of rejecting Bally’s request, has been defending member deference from the administration. Namely, the city’s Charter Revision Commission approved ballot questions that, if approved, would weaken the City Council’s power over land use decisions.
The Council speaker has taken issue with these changes, seeing them as an affront to her members and believing they are being unfairly blamed for the city’s housing crisis. She has pointed to the passage of the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, and the fact that, since 2022, the Council has approved more than 120,000 units of housing, as proof of City Council’s pro-house bona fides.
Speaker Adams has also criticized the mayor’s reversal on the Elizabeth Street Garden housing project as a hypocritical acquiescence. The mayor has repeatedly referred to his administration as the most pro-housing in the city’s history.
A spokesperson on Wednesday said the Council is considering its next steps on the Bally’s proposal.
“Despite the self-serving claims about housing and land use by Mayor Adams and his second Charter Revision Commission in less than two years, Mayor Adams has issued the first and only land use veto during his tenure for a casino applicant, not housing,” a City Council spokesperson said in a statement. “The mayor can’t claim to have the most pro-housing administration in city history when he and Randy Mastro single-handedly killed Elizabeth Street Garden affordable housing for seniors that was approved by the Council six years ago in the land use process.”
To override the mayor’s veto, at least two-thirds of the City Council must vote to do so. Marmorato indicated that she thinks they have the votes.
Still, that’s a tall order, given that it’s the summer and members aren’t exactly clamoring to publicly show their support for a casino, even if the vote will not actually grant Bally’s a license. The vote just determines whether the company can stay in the game.
Reversing the mayor’s veto would be a statement from the Council and would almost certainly be used by opponents of the Charter Revision Commission proposals as an example of why member deference is important.
A fight over a casino was not on my bingo card of things that could derail a major overhaul of the city’s land use review process, but it is now.
What we’re thinking about: Will the City Council be able to get enough votes to override the mayor’s veto? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com.
A thing we’ve learned: As previously noted in this newsletter, the U.S. Senate and House Appropriations Committees have approved their respective Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations, or THUD, bills. The New York Housing Conference on Wednesday released a cautiously optimistic analysis of the measures, noting that it “[rejects] the deeply harmful cuts and policy changes proposed in the President’s Budget Request.” The organization has been sounding the alarm on Trump’s proposal to gut HUD’s budget and end key affordable housing programs, even as Congress seemed to be moving forward with less drastic cuts. Of course, nothing is final.
The analysis notes that neither the Senate nor House versions of the bill address the funding cliff for the Emergency Housing Vouchers program, which was supposed to be funded through September 2030, but that HUD says will run out of money this year or next. The program’s early end would affect 20,000 New Yorkers.
The House bill includes $375 million for Tenant Protection Vouchers and indicates that those funds could be used to maintain the EHV program. But that would be a drop in the bucket: NYHC estimates that $212 million is needed to just maintain the program in New York.
Elsewhere in New York…
— The MTA is set to award nearly $166 million to design a Brooklyn-Queens light rail, Bloomberg reported. The MTA board voted today to award the contract to Jacobs Civil Consultants and Henningson, Durham & Richardson Architecture and Engineering, who won the bid for a preliminary project design for the Interborough Express.
—Boozy subway ads could make a comeback after the MTA lifted a seven-year ban last month, according to Gothamist. Allowing ads for alcohol could raise between $7 to $10 million in revenue for the transit system.
— After a gunman shot and killed four people in a Midtown office building on Monday, Gov. Kathy Hochul is pointing the finger at the federal level for lax gun control legislation, City & State New York reported. New York’s strong gun laws can “only go so far when an AR-15 can be obtained in a state with weak gun laws and brought into New York to commit mass murder,” Hochul said in a statement. She urged Congress to “stand up to the gun lobby” and pass a national assault weapons ban.
Closing Time
Residential: The top residential deal recorded Wednesday was $7.7 million for a 3,365-square-foot townhouse at 204 West 21st Street in Chelsea. Michelle E. Bourgeois and Gina M. Kuhlenkamp of Sotheby’s International Realty had the listing.
Commercial: The top commercial deal recorded was $40.2 million for two transactions from Winter Properties to Prime Group. One was 550 West 25th Street in Chelsea, which sold for $25.15 million, and the second was 599 Eleventh Avenue in Hell’s Kitchen, which sold for $15 million.
New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $8.4 million for a 3,553-square-foot condominium unit at 181 East 90th Street in Carnegie Hill. Triffina Maschner and Adrien Gouirand from Barnes New York have the listing. Breaking Ground: The largest new building applications filed were for a combined 62,030-square-foot educational community facility at 2064 53rd Street and 5312 21st Avenue in Mapleton. Michael Goldblum of Building Studio Architects LLP filed the permits on behalf of the Barkai Yeshivah.
— Matthew Elo
