Jay-Z Among Presenters Powering Caesars Palace Times Square Bid

The New York casino process got its first dose of star power Wednesday when Jay-Z was among the presenters for the Caesars Palace Times Square pitch to its Community Advisory Committee (CAC).

The Roc Nation co-founder and award-winning rapper was among multiple people from Caesars Palace and SL Green Properties who made presentations as they vie for a downstate casino license. The group pledged $250 million in community benefits as part of a proposal that would put a casino in the heart of Manhattan by converting an existing office building at 1515 Broadway.

Caesars Palace Times Square’s application is among eight submitted to the New York State Gaming Commission and arguably the most polarizing of the applicants looking to be awarded one of the three $500 million downstate licenses. It is one of three Manhattan-based proposals, along with The Avenir on the West Side in Midtown and Freedom Plaza on the East Side just south of the United Nations.

The CAC requires a two-thirds majority — four votes — to advance the applicant to the New York Gaming Facility Board by Sept. 30. Should it fail to hold a vote by that date, the applicant is deemed rejected. The board would then make its selections for the licenses Dec. 1, which would be followed by the commission license consideration before the end of the year.

The casino acting as an additive

A common theme among Caesars’ presenters Wednesday was their insistence that a casino in Times Square can serve as an additive to drive business to theaters, restaurants, and hotels in Midtown. The first presenter was SL Green CEO Mark Holliday, followed by Brian Agnew, Caesars senior vice president of corporate finance, treasury, and investor relations; Roc Nation CEO Desiree Perez; Jay-Z; and Brett Herschenfeld, executive vice president of SL Green.

Herschenfeld provided estimates of what the surrounding Times Square community would have because the $5.4 billion proposal is not all-consuming. Even with a 992-room hotel above the Minskoff Theatre, it represents less than 30% of the nearly 3,500 rooms available. The building at 1515 Broadway would have only four restaurants of 34 in the area. The group opted not to have a retail presence, which it said would funnel an estimated $900 million in sales annually to local stores.

Perhaps most importantly, Caesars Palace Times Square has a net zero in terms of adding entertainment venues to the area, which generates an estimated 837,000 tickets sold — approximately $125 million in new incremental ticket sales — for Broadway shows every year. Some of the opposition to Caesars Palace Times Square has come from the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, but the project got a huge boost Wednesday when Al Vincent Jr., executive director of the Actors’ Equity Association, offered his group’s support during the presentation.

“Too often, actors and stage managers are forced to piece together work just to survive between productions,” Vincent said. “This collaboration with Caesars Palace Times Square creates new opportunities for our members to support themselves without leaving their professional community. That’s the kind of responsive, community-oriented solution we need.”

Jay-Z as community builder

One of the most interesting juxtapositions of the presentation was not seeing Jay-Z as a 25-time Grammy-winning rapper. The man who penned lyrics such as “We used to fight for building blocks, now we fight for blocks with buildings that make a killin’,” Jay-Z was eager and at times anxious and excited in tone of voice to display Roc Nation’s impact on the New York City community in tandem with Perez.

“This is what New York really looks like, the programs and things that we’ve done,” said Jay-Z. He cited and described his company’s social causes — Book of Hope, United Coalition for Justice, REFORM Alliance — as well as scholarships it offers to those who have mitigating circumstances in pursuit of their education.

“When we come into a space, particularly like Broadway, we’re not coming to compete with Broadway,” he added, disclosing that his first call upon joining the proposal was to Disney CEO Bob Iger to keep The Lion King at the Minskoff. “We’re coming to be additive. Anything that we’ve done in the past, we’ve always included the community. We’ve never excluded the community. So for us, it’s important.”

Bratton comes out of the bullpen

One of the challenging aspects of a casino in Times Square is security. To that end, Caesars Palace Times Square brought in two-time New York City Police Department Commissioner Bill Bratton, also a former Los Angeles PD commissioner, to present an $81 million public safety initiative he designed.

Bratton detailed an around-the-clock security apparatus that ranges from 6th Avenue to 10th Avenue and from 40th Street to 53rd Street as an incremental addition to the NYPD officers assigned to the area. It would have more than 40 “professional security personnel daily” and more than 400 cameras. He added the initiative would be funded for the next 10 years.

“We’re not relying on officers from other locations in New York City to fly in on an ‘as needed’ basis, only to be gone the next day,” Bratton said. “It’s similar to the 96 police officers I stationed here in 2014 in Times Square.

“We want to be present and prevent crimes from occurring to begin with. … Officers in the same location every single day will encourage communication with residents and local businesses and create a sense of neighborhood, resulting in communication which will further enable proactive policing.”

CAC’s duties, responsibilities

Besides choosing whether to vote an applicant forward, the most important duty for each Community Advisory Committee is to hold at least two public hearings to solicit comment. In addition, it reviews public comments submitted on a project and votes to reflect the public support or lack thereof.

A CAC can solicit changes to an application, but there are limits to the changes that can be made. The committee has the power to request a bidder change or modify its application, but that also must be put in writing prior to the deadline.

The CAC cannot make any changes or modifications necessitating change to the Environmental Quality Review Act.

The CAC for Caesars Palace Times Square voted Carl Wilson as its chair. Wilson is chief of staff for New York City Councilmember Erik Bottcher. The other members are:

• Peter Hatch, deputy secretary for human services and mental hygiene, selected by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul;
• Laura Smith, deputy executive director for strategic planning at the NYC Department of City Planning, picked by New York City Mayor Eric Adams;
• Richard Gottfried, former New York assemblymember, tabbed by state Sen. Liz Krueger;
• Matthew Tighe, chief of staff for Assemblymember Tony Simone. Tighe is also serving as chair of The Avenir CAC;
• Chris Carroll, chief of staff for policy, budget, and external affairs, appointed by Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine.