Jay-Z–Backed Times Square Casino Plan Rejected in 4–2 Local Vote

A high-profile bid to build a Caesars Palace casino in the heart of Times Square, backed by SL Green, Caesars Entertainment, Roc Nation and Live Nation, was voted down by a state community advisory committee on Sept. 17, dealing a major blow to one of Manhattan’s most closely watched gambling proposals.

The plan envisioned converting the 54-story office tower at 1515 Broadway, above the Minskoff Theatre, home to The Lion King, into a casino destination with a Nobu hotel and dining, alongside entertainment spaces powered by Roc Nation.

Supporters argued the multibillion-dollar project would boost tourism and jobs; opponents warned it would harm Broadway’s recovery and worsen congestion in the theater district.

The Broadway League led a sustained campaign against the project, from marquee light-ups to Playbill inserts urging theatergoers to say no, efforts that helped crystallize resistance among local officials whose representatives sit on the advisory panel.

Reaction was swift and heated. SL Green CEO Marc Holliday blasted the decision as a failure of leadership, while the Rev. Al Sharpton—who supported the bid and was set to helm a proposed $15 million civil-rights museum funded by the developers—condemned the vote as preserving longstanding exclusion in Times Square’s entertainment ecosystem.

The package also pledged $20 million for subsidized Broadway tickets and more than $80 million for safety initiatives designed by former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton.

The defeat leaves Manhattan’s casino landscape uncertain. Other proposals, on the West Side near the Javits Center and on the East Side by the U.N., face their own headwinds, while bids in Queens, the Bronx, Brooklyn and Yonkers continue to jockey for up to three downstate licenses the state aims to award later this year. A separate Times Square–area bid by Silverstein Properties was also rejected on Sept. 17.