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Five of New York City’s billionaires are rolling the dice on gambling in the Big Apple.
Each is vying for what is predicted to be a single license to open a legal casino in New York City. Technically, three licenses are on offer for downstate, but it is expected that two of the licenses will go to Genting Resorts World at Aqueduct and MGM-Empire City Yonkers (established, successful “racinos” which will further benefit from having table games such as blackjack and paigow poker).
Mets owner Steve Cohen, real-estate scion Stefan Soloviev, Gristedes CEO John Catsimatidis, Hudson Yards developer Stephen Ross and music mogul Jay-Z are all gunning for that license to win money.
As a source in the casino business told The Post, “Every billionaire wants a casino. The epitome of success in the US is to own your own casino.”
Here are the five would-be bosses and their plans to ace out the competition:
Location: Hudson Yards, which was developed by Ross through his company Related
Ross is no stranger to betting big — or losing big. In 2008, he acquired 95 percent of the Miami Dolphins for $1 billion. Last year, he divorced jewelry designer Kara Ross after 18 years. A legal source told The Post that the split could have cost him as much as $300 million.
But that payout pales alongside what it will cost Ross, through his Related Companies, if he, CEO Jeff Blau and president Bruce Beal prevail. First of all, even just applying costs $1 million. If approved, you have to shell out $500 million for the license.
Then there is the $700,000 that Ross contributed last year to Kathy Hochul’s gubernatorial campaign, which is viewed as a savvy investment.
Ross, 82, has partnered with Wynn Resorts, a top casino company with outposts in Las Vegas, Macau and Boston. “They’ll drive the most revenue for the city,” a source familiar with the project told The Post. “They’re not worried about their competitors. It’s all about what they can do versus what the competition can’t do.”
At least one of the competitors remains unruffled. “Hudson Yards has failed to live up to its potential,” Stefan Soloviev told The Post. “Hudson Yards should concentrate on the promises it made for middle-income housing and green spaces instead of building a casino.”
Odds: 4–1 “If I had to have a Manhattan casino, Hudson Yards is where I would want it to be,” Alan Woinski, president of the casino consultant Gaming USA, told The Post. “And it helps that they have Wynn Resorts, one of the most successful casino companies, as a partner.”
Location: Just south of the UN — First Avenue between 38th and 40th Streets
Soloviev, the son of late power-player developer Sheldon Solow, is known for being tough in his business deals — and, allegedly, on the homefront.
Earlier this year, the 47-year-old made headlines when nannies who had looked over some of his brood of 20 children — yes, 20 — described Soloviev as a “time bomb,” with another telling Business Insier the gig was “eight days in hell.”
Soloviev declined to talk about the allegations, telling The Post: “This is a business interview.”
Acknowledging that his opponents are “smart businessmen,” Soloviev said that he and his company’s CEO Michael Hershman “are smart enough to know that politics are involved, but we are not going to play the political game. There have been lobbyists and [political] contributions. That happens. We hope politicians will realize our project is not just a casino.”
Soloviev told The Post that he is in talks with, among others, Las Vegas Sands Corp. as a potential partner. Sands owns the Venetian in Las Vegas and Macau.
He hopes to situate a casino on six blank-slate acres, just south of the United Nations campus and overlooking the East River, that he called “shovel ready.” He anticipates a deluxe Ferris wheel — similar to the London Eye — as well as green spaces, below-ground gaming (“Casinos don’t have windows because they don’t want people to know if it is night or day”) and a museum dedicated to democracy. “With authoritarianism growing, we thought it would be important,” Hershman said of the museum.
“We’re not looking at a Las Vegas-type building,” he added, although the gambling den will include a hotel.
But one source sniped to The Post that traveling to and from the proposed casino, near the UN will be nightmarish: “It will be like having the UN General Assembly 52 weeks a year.”
Odds: 1,000–1 without a casino partner; 3–1 if Soloviev partners with Las Vegas Sands Corp.
“This guy has no knowledge of casinos. But if Sands gets involved, I take a much closer look,” said Woinski. “[Sands’] Marina Bay Sands in Singapore is the most successful casino in the world.”
Location: Citi Field, home to the Mets — which Cohen bought in 2020
Hedge-fund billionaire and NY Mets owner Steve Cohen splurges. According to the book “From Scratch,” Cohen once “paid Guy Fieri $100,000 to be his friend for a day.” It entailed the spiky-haired chef enacting a fantasy episode of “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” with Cohen riding shotgun. He’s amassed a $1 billion art collection and, along with his wife, Alexandra, has made some $1.7 million in political contributions.
And then, of course, there is his $2.4 billion purchase of the New York Mets and the spending sprees ($102 million for closer Edwin Díaz, $162 for outfielder Brandon Nimmo) that are part of Cohen’s quest to nab a World Series title by 2027.
Now teamed up with Hard Rock International — which has 14 casinos in the US, Canada and Dominican Republic — Cohen hopes to strategically situate a casino in the parking lot of his team’s Citi Field, near a planned $780 million NYCFC soccer stadium.
Cohen, 66, has proven he can get what he wants, by overcoming Bill de Blasio’s attempt to strike out his Mets deal. When the former mayor wanted the team to go to Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez, he touted Cohen as a “prohibited person” due to his former hedge fund, S.A.C. Capital Advisors, pleading guilty to insider trading in 2013.
Meanwhile, a competitor bashes Cohen for other reasons.
“You already have casinos out there at Aqueduct [eight miles away from Citi Field],” said Soloviev. “Citi Field makes no sense.”
Cohen’s representative did not return calls for comment.
Odds: 3–1 “Steve Cohen will spend more money than anyone,” said Woinski. “He likes to do whatever it takes to get what he wants.”
A consummate New Yorker, Gristedes CEO and WABC owner/talk-show host John Catsimatidis already faces competition on his turf. Also staking out Coney Island for a casino/hotel project: Thor Equities, joined by Saratoga Casino Holdings, the Chickasaw Nation and Legends.
Unlike Thor and company, Catsimatidis approaches the billionaire casino brawl with trepidation. “We are not an official bidder at this point,” Catsimatidis told The Post. “We have some interest and we are proceeding with caution.”
If the grocery billionaire takes the Coney Island plunge he may not have problems in figuring out casino security and surveillance.
Tight with private eye Bo Dietl, 74-year-old Catsimatidis also knows a thing or two about facial recognition software. Not only was it briefly used to fight shoplifting at a Gristedes, he also employed Clearview AI software to check up on a suitor of his daughter, Andrea.
As for a casino’s prospects in the land of Nathan’s hot dogs, a source brought up one major wrinkle: “How do you get 40,000 people a day to Coney Island? Traffic is already crazy … and the planned ferry service from downtown and Midtown has been halted” for reasons that include shifting sand. “It would be hard for a casino to operate.”
Odds: 90–1 “[Catsimatidis] hasn’t named a casino partner and he’s running out of people,” said Woinski. “I don’t think Coney Island is completely out of the question, but it would not be my first choice.”
Considering all that Jay-Z has going on — including his own music career, the Roc-A-Fella Records label, Rocawear clothing, Armand di Brignac champagne and Monogram cannabis — you’ve gotta wonder why the 53-year-old would get involved in the gambling business.
“You can have as many yachts and private jets as you like, but a casino is a great inducement to do business deals over and over again,” a source told The Post. “You can impress your business partners … by giving them free chips, throwing private parties and putting them up in your best rooms.”
The rap mogul has partnered with real-estate firm SL Green — which claims to be NYC’s largest commercial landlord — and Caesars Entertainment, which already owns or is partnered with more than 50 casinos in the US, Canada and UAE.
“It is hoped that Jay … could handle residencies like the one that Adele has in Las Vegas,” a source close to the project told The Post. “It would make the casino a full-on entertainment destination with a lot of New York swagger.”
Odds: 10–1 “They have a lot of opposition,” said Woinski of Jay-Z and SL Green. “They have to get past the Broadway League [the trade group, which includes theater owners and producers, has warned a casino will be “disruptive to theater goers”]. A casino may be the last thing that Times Square needs. You want a spot where the casino is the main draw.”