A rendering of the proposed on line casino for Occasions Sq. in Manhattan.
Courtesy of SL Inexperienced
New York Metropolis is within the midst of an early and revolutionary experiment that’s heralding a transformative shift in how we transfer by way of our streets. Congestion pricing is lastly right here and the early evaluations are in: it’s already decreasing gridlock, bettering air high quality and mobility, and serving to to fund the following era of wanted investments within the public transit system that thousands and thousands of us depend on daily. And but, amid this second of progress, one proposal threatens to tug us backward: a on line casino in Occasions Sq.. At this important second, we must be pursuing methods to cut back driving much more; a on line casino in Occasions Sq. does simply the alternative.
The SL Inexperienced/Caesars Palace Occasions Sq. challenge isn’t only a unhealthy land use resolution; it’s a harmful one. It invitations extra automobiles, extra emissions, extra pedestrian conflicts, and extra chaos right into a neighborhood already bursting on the seams. The builders are promising glamor and jobs. However their very own Environmental Influence Assertion (EIS) makes clear what this actually is: a traffic-generating machine that may degrade high quality of life and make our streets much less protected.
Let’s begin with the fundamentals.
Occasions Sq. is without doubt one of the busiest pedestrian zones on the planet. Greater than 200,000 folks stroll by way of it each day. In line with the EIS, eight crosswalks within the challenge space are already working under acceptable ranges, and the on line casino will make them worse. Town must be pursuing people-only areas and low visitors zones to take care of the already severely over-crowded sidewalks—not green-lighting much more visitors and congestion.
The impression on automobile lanes is simply as unhealthy. In line with the EIS, 4 intersections within the space will degrade to congested ranges (Degree of Service E or worse) on weekends.The on line casino proposal would add valet operations, designated drop-offs, and new zones for personal automobiles, limos, Ubers, and buses. This isn’t transit-oriented growth; this can be a high-volume leisure advanced designed round vehicular entry that’s poised to erase most of the good points that congestion pricing is already delivering.
Even with potential mitigations like sign timing adjustments and sidewalk widenings, the report admits that many of those harms can’t be fastened. This can be a proposal that knowingly breaks our transportation infrastructure in one in every of its most fragile zones.
And what concerning the declare that visitors will “mostly take transit”? Let’s be sincere: in the event you’re constructing valet garages and personal shuttle ports, you’re not attempting to draw strap-hangers. You’re inviting visitors. Excessive rollers and suburban vacationers are usually not going to board the 7 prepare with a suitcase. They’re going to drive (or take FHV’s) into the center of Midtown. That’s not simply unhealthy planning. It’s a betrayal of the objectives we’ve spent years organizing for: safer streets, cleaner air, and freedom from automobile dominance.
Worse nonetheless, this challenge will open throughout the identical years that the Port Authority Bus Terminal is underneath reconstruction. That’s years of mixed building visitors, rerouted buses, and road closures, all colliding simply steps from the on line casino web site. And but the on line casino builders didn’t embrace that challenge of their visitors evaluation. Why? As a result of they are saying it opens after the on line casino does. That sort of magical pondering is how we get bottlenecks that final a era.
SL Inexperienced says it is going to supply geofencing with Uber and “gaming credits” to encourage transit use. That’s not an actual mitigation technique, that’s greenwashing. We can’t repair structural road failures with app factors and promo codes. And we actually can’t cut back driving by constructing a on line casino on the most congested nook within the metropolis.
At Open Plans, we envision a metropolis the place streets are for folks, not for personal income, valet zones, or shuttle operations. We struggle for neighborhoods the place youngsters can stroll safely to highschool, seniors can sit on a bench in peace, and everybody can transfer by way of town with out dodging idling limos. A Occasions Sq. on line casino does the alternative: it prioritizes tourism {dollars} over public security, and automobile entry over people-centered design.
We must be constructing on the momentum of congestion pricing, not undermining it simply because it’s starting to work. That is our likelihood to lastly deal with streets as public area, not freeway on-ramps. Occasions Sq. doesn’t want a on line casino. As a substitute, it wants cleaner air, wider sidewalks, protected bike lanes, and dependable buses. As leaders across the metropolis think about on line casino proposals of their neighborhoods, they need to watch out to research the visitors and pedestrian impacts. This can be a main turning level for our metropolis and we should do it proper.
So let’s make the proper name. Say no to a on line casino in Occasions Sq. that may flood our streets with visitors and promote out our public area to the very best bidder. Let’s guess on a greater future—one constructed for folks, not automobiles.
Sara Lind is the co-executive director of Open Plans, a nonprofit advocacy group that works to make New York Metropolis’s streets and public areas safer and extra livable.
