Manhattan Community Board 4 votes to oppose casino complex proposed for Hudson Yards

Manhattan Community Board 4 has voted unanimously to reject a casino and entertainment complex proposal by gaming giant Wynn for Hudson Yards.

The advisory vote now goes to Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine as part of the city’s land use review process, ahead of an eventual public hearing. The tally on Monday was 39 against and 1 not voting.

Opponents of the sprawling plan, which partners Wynn New York City with developer Related, said Tuesday they hoped the community board’s vote would spur others to reject the mixed-use development, which also includes market-rate and affordable housing, a public park and a new K-8 school.

The Wynn project, which would overlook the Hudson River, is one of 11 casino projects that have been proposed by competing entities across the city and adjacent suburbs. Applications to the state Gaming Commission are due in June, with the expected announcement of as many as three licenses by the end of the year.

Joe Restuccia, a board member who voted against the Wynn casino, said it would have resulted in far less housing than what the developer had earlier promised and left parks in the area in the shadow of new high-rises.

“The last time we voted an outright denial was 1986, so it takes a lot for our community board on the West Side to say we don’t approve it at all,” said Restuccia, who co-chairs Community Board 4’s housing committee.

Natalie Ravitz, a spokesperson for Related, said many community suggestions were “not fiscally feasible to implement” but added that the company welcomed further feedback.

“We are focused on moving forward with local elected officials, who have been committed to pursuing realistic plans that deliver the jobs, housing and community improvements New York needs today,” Ravitz said.

According to Wynn New York City, the development could generate as many as 35,000 union construction jobs along with more than 5,000 unionized employees in permanent jobs.

The backers enlisted community advocates to help sell the project's merits to the public. Leaders from the NAACP, National Urban League and Win, New York City's largest provider of family shelter and permanent supportive housing, are among the initiative's supporters.

Representatives of those groups have said the proposal would bring much-needed jobs, including for poor and working-class New Yorkers. Christine Quinn, the head of Win and a former City Council speaker, spoke of “thousands of jobs for homeless moms.”

But Restuccia said the community board soured on the project. He said significant rollbacks had occurred since a 2009 agreement forged with Related, which he said had offered 5,700 units of housing. The latest proposal offered 1,500 units, including 324 units of affordable housing.

Those changes helped drive a petition opposing the project dubbed Protect the High Line at the Rail Yards. A spokesperson for the opposition said the petition had 3,400 signatories as of Tuesday.

Alan van Capelle, the executive director of Friends of the High Line, which maintains the elevated park that abuts Hudson Yards, said the project’s backers were “tone deaf.”

“We're in the middle of a housing crisis, and this plan takes away much needed housing,” van Capelle said. “There has to be better use for this land that's owned by the people of New York than what's being proposed.”