Second Freedom Plaza Casino Hearing A Near-Repeat Of First

It can be argued the only notable difference between Monday’s second public hearing to discuss the $11.1 billion Freedom Plaza casino proposal for the East Side of New York City and the first held nearly three weeks prior was the timing of when people spoke in support and opposition.

The marathon six-hour session at Scandinavia House covered little new ground among the public offering comments two minutes or less at a time. A near-unanimous majority of Murray Hill and Tudor Park residents remained steadfastly opposed to a gaming venue run by Mohegan Sun, while union workers again promoted the benefits of a project that would bring 8,000 permanent casino positions and 17,000 total union-based jobs.

With both mandated public hearings complete, the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) overseeing the application fronted by Mohegan Sun and the Soloviev Group has until Sept. 30 to hold a vote to forward the proposal to the New York State Gaming Commission, which can award up to three downstate casino licenses at $500 million apiece. A two-thirds majority is required for the applicant to move forward.

The CAC can also hold a meeting prior to the Sept. 30 deadline to potentially offer amendments to the application for Mohegan Sun and the Soloviev Group to consider, something the Bally’s Bronx CAC did Monday.

Traffic concerns, more affordable housing

Many residents expressed concern about the traffic in the first hearing. They felt the potential addition of a casino and two residential towers to an area with the United Nations Plaza to the immediate north and Bellevue Health Center and NYU Langone Health would create a traffic choke point and potentially disrupt emergency services.

Those traffic concerns were in the forefront Monday with the United Nations General Assembly currently in session and gearing up for “U.N. Week” starting next Monday. The United Nations, which is also celebrating its 80th anniversary this year, will be holding high-level meetings an presentations that attract hundreds of global dignitaries as part of U.N. Week.

A portion of Monday’s 30-minute presentation led by Soloviev Group CEO Michael Hershman included representatives from Langan Engineering showing plans to address the traffic issue, which included consultation with New York City’s DOT and MTA. Project Engineer Erika Finan explained that the proposed venue that includes parkland would “protect First Avenue” since there will be no curb.

The proposed venue has only three access points: on East 41st Street, where hotel guests would be dropped off; a service road for the gaming facility; and a residential drop-off point on East 38th Street. The group also projected that 50% of trips to Freedom Plaza will originate via public transit, and there would be shuttles to off-site parking.

The Soloviev Group’s initial proposal called for 500 affordable housing units, but that was increased to 600. Hershman said the group also made a $1 million commitment to the Settlement Housing Fund, a non-profit that helps preserve low-to-moderate housing.

The Soloviev Group CEO said some affordable housing will include three bedroom units, and that the project recently added Michael Brown, former global director of security for the United Nations, to help address security concerns.

The Uncasville contingent

Call it stacking the deck or flooding the zone, but the first two-plus hours of the hearing were dominated by multiple groups of supporters of Freedom Plaza.

Mohegan Sun provided a large-scale charm offensive. More than 20 employees from its Connecticut flagship property bused down for the hearing spoke in glowing terms of the sense of community Mohegan fosters both on the property and to the local community, and detailed career path building they were able to achieve.

This procession had little interruption of note save Jeffrey Sayegh from the New York-based Black Pearl Investments group. He repeated his offer from the first hearing that Black Pearl has aligned financiers who are willing to put up $9.5 billion to complete the 2nd Avenue Subway should Freedom Plaza be awarded a casino license from the NYSGC.

Following the Mohegan Sun employees were multiple members of Union Local 3 supporting the project. Then there were multiple employees of Soloviev Group-related entities that followed suit, to the point where supporters outnumbered opponents by a nearly 9-to-1 ratio among the first 100 speakers.

It's taken us about 50 collective hours of #NewYork casino community hearings, but we may have had our first drunk speaker overall supporting Freedom Plaza…and advocating for it to expand to replace the UN as well.

— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) September 15, 2025

And then local residents came

It was not until roughly 5 p.m. local time that opponents of the proposal began to make their voices heard substantially. And it was clear from a few they were not happy about being made to listen to nearly three hours of non-residents.

“I’m so happy that the Mohegan Sun employees and Soloviev employees have been here to talk about their life’s history and their success and may they always remain so,” said Linda, who resides in the 10017 zip code. “That has nothing to do with putting a casino in one of the premier areas of this city, this thriving, not dying city.”

Many residents repeated themes from the first meeting. They wanted the increased housing and community benefits without the casino. Many again asked why the Soloviev Group did not commit to building new housing units until now considering they owned the parcel of land for decades. Multiple people had concerns about the contaminated soil below the topsoil that had been treated.

If there was one new component, it was in the form of multiple residents of the Straus Houses from the Kips Bay neighborhood coming out in support of Freedom Plaza. The Straus Houses, operated by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), are located southwest of NYU Langone Health on 27th and 28th Streets.

“We, Nathan Straus, 100 percent support Freedom Plaza,” said Elsie Otero, president of the Nathan Straus Tenant Association. “Why? Because we’ve been living in Nathan Straus and it’s hard for the youth that is living in that community to find work.

“We find this project more important to the city than worrying about losing the river view. This is bigger than the city. This is something that’s going to bring prosperity … and help anybody that needs to get a job. They’re all union, and most important, the affordable housing, which is a crisis in New York City.”

Nearly five hours into the hearing, there was a unicorn sighting: a union worker opposed to the project. A local resident who had been with Local 3 for 36 years and moved to the area shortly after the 9/11 attacks labeled putting a casino in the neighborhood “insulting.”

“I grew up with guys who gambled and collected money from guys who gambled,” he said. “We don’t want it. Let me read you the end of a movie. It’s a relevant film. These guys will know it: Today looks like Disneyland. And while the kids play cardboard pirates, mommy and daddy drop the house payments and junior’s college money on the poker slots.

“We don’t want that. You guys don’t want to be associated with that cancer. You’re better than that.”

More than one person connected to the real estate industry supported the project. One man who identified himself as Joseph said “an overwhelming amount” of private equity firms don’t want to invest in New York City because of regulations that don’t help developers and landlords.

“You complain that there’s not enough affordable housing here. You complain about a casino. That’s the only way this deal is going to pencil out, my friends,” he said. “There are tens of thousands of units that are not available right now in the city because mom-and-pop landlords don’t have 100 grand to bust on a renovation where they can only raise their rents 2.7 percent.”

There was also one moment of awkward levity in the six-hour affair, as one man, possibly inebriated, wanted to “demolish the U.N. and expand the casino.”