Is putting a major hotel-casino in the heart of Manhattan a good idea? It wasn't too long ago that I might have thought about it for a nanosecond before saying 'yes,' but now I am not so sure.
If you know me, and if you've read my opinion pieces before, you know I am an unabashed rooter of a few things in life.
The success of my two sons, of course.
University of Michigan football and basketball.
Yankees baseball.
A date with Elizabeth Hurley would be great but, you know, that's a reach.
And my beloved New York City.
I am spoiled. I grew up in New York. I went to college at Fordham University in the Bronx, which was a D Train subway ride away from both Yankee Stadium and Manhattan. I wanted for nothing for all of my life - great attractions, historical venues, world-class museums, the greatest restaurants in the world, major sports, Broadway, A-List entertainers, and 24-hour White Castle joints. You haven't lived until you've eaten a half-dozen sliders - Murder Burgers, we called them - coming home from the bars at 3 a.m.
Nothing will replace NYC as the greatest city in the world in my mind, but I am also pragmatic enough to realize that New York City hasn't been New York City in a while. In large part, that's why I'm hesitant to endorse this plan by Caesars to develop a hotel-casino in the Theater District.
I'm sure this wasn't a knee-jerk reaction to the drop in tourism due to the pandemic. A project like this has to jump through so many hoops before you even get to the stage of making a public announcement as Caesars and developer S.L. Green did on Thursday. But New York City has bigger concerns right now than bringing in a hotel-casino.
I'm not going to get into a political debate here but the fact remains that crime is rampant. And while that's true of most major cities, things are magnified when it's NYC. From petty crimes and annoyances to the brazen smash-and-grab phenomenon, New York City needs to clean up its own house before putting a major casino in its backyard.
And, truly, tell me - what does a Las Vegas-style casino bring that New York City doesn't already have? Honestly, the only thing I can think of is that Vegas has cornered the market on musician residencies. Vegas has a multitude of artists performing over the course of time. New York has Billy Joel doing his residency once a month at Madison Square Garden.
Otherwise? Like I said before - you don't want for anything in New York City.
Luxury hotels? Check.
Broadway shows? Brother, please.
Extravagant restaurants? New York has more five-star Michelin-rated eateries than any other U.S. city.
Gambling? Well, depends on how you define gambling. Vegas has glitzy casinos, private poser and Pai Gow rooms, the excitement of roulette. New York has, well, we got Three-Card Monte.
The point is, what is the lure of adding a hotel-casino to New York City? It's not a necessity. It's not even a novelty. Sure, it might add tens of millions to the tax coffers, but at what overall price?
No, this is not the time for an NYC-based hotel-casino. Frankly, developers in the city have already ruined the New York City skyline view with those god-awful pencil towers popping up all over the place. It's one thing to want to improve New York; it's quite another to try to make it something that it's not.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
