New York is grappling with the overlapping crises of housing affordability, economic instability, and uneven neighborhood development. As policymakers consider awarding downstate casino licenses, the stakes are not just about gaming revenues or new entertainment venues; they involve broader economic implications and how best to leverage a once-in-a-generation opportunity to strengthen the city’s urban fabric.
The question is not whether New York should host casinos. That decision has been made. The real question is where these casinos should be located. And from the perspective of both urban planning and economic policy, the answer is clear: at least one license must be awarded in Manhattan.
For decades, the Far West Side — particularly around 11th Ave. and 41st St. — has been a neighborhood defined by fragmentation.
While Times Square to the east became the beating heart of tourism and Broadway shows, and Hudson Yards to the south rose as a glittering new business and luxury residential district, the area in between was left in limbo. It is neither fully residential nor truly commercial, but rather a gap between vibrant neighborhoods, not a destination of its own. Urban planners often speak of the “broken fabric” of a city — and this area is a prime example.
The Avenir project, a $7 billion mixed-use casino, hotel, and cultural complex, represents not just an economic investment but an urban repair project. It is designed to stitch together Hudson Yards and Hell’s Kitchen, while extending the cultural and commercial energy of Times Square westward toward the Javits Center.
Opponents argue that placing a casino in Manhattan risks oversaturating Midtown, but the truth is the opposite: siting it elsewhere would squander its potential. Each year, more than 66 million visitors come to New York, and overwhelmingly, they spend their time and money in Manhattan. Casinos located in outlying boroughs would rely disproportionately on local residents, rather than attracting outside investment.
A Manhattan casino will generate the greatest return for the city, state, and MTA. With subways, commuter rail, buses, and the Lincoln Tunnel all nearby, the Avenir site is uniquely positioned to welcome visitors without overburdening local streets. Accessibility is not a luxury — it is the difference between a project that thrives and one that struggles to succeed.
Moreover, Manhattan’s per capita income and concentration of tourists ensures that spending at the casino, hotel, restaurants, and shops will be additive rather than extractive. This is money flowing into New York’s economy, not out of its neighborhoods.
Too often, gaming complexes are inward-looking, designed to keep visitors inside and disconnected from their surroundings. But the Avenir proposal is explicitly different.
The project combines a 1,000-room luxury hotel, dozens of restaurants including concepts from local culinary leaders, a food hall highlighting neighborhood eateries, a spa, conference space, and a boutique performance venue. It will also create more than 2,000 West Side apartments, including more than 500 affordable units, by converting under-utilized office buildings to apartments. Public art galleries and community-use spaces are core features of the plan.
This is not simply a casino. It is a piece of urban infrastructure. It repairs broken streets, activates dormant spaces, and reconnects neighborhoods that have been long divided by highways and bus ramps.
The alternative is placing a casino where it would indeed displace residents, extract dollars from vulnerable communities, and exacerbate inequities. By concentrating this use in Manhattan, where tourism dollars already flow, the city avoids imposing new burdens on working-class areas of Queens, Brooklyn, or the Bronx.
The Avenir represents the kind of catalytic project that can turn a gap in the city’s fabric into a connective tissue. It links Hudson Yards, Times Square, and Javits into a coherent corridor. It anchors new housing and community amenities. It generates tax revenue to fund basic services, from transit to schools.
Manhattan has always been the city’s global stage — the place where visitors arrive, where culture is produced, and where investments have the greatest ripple effects.
Placing a casino here is not about glamour or spectacle. It is about strategy. It is about repairing decades of neglect on the Far West Side. It is about ensuring that the economic benefits of this license flow to the state, city, and MTA, rather than being drained from working families. It is about embracing the principle of highest and best use for one of the last underutilized pockets of Midtown.
New York cannot afford to miss this opportunity. The smartest bet the city can make is to place at least one casino license in the heart of Manhattan.
Levine is an architect, urban planner, and visiting scholar at New York University.
