Broadway decries plan for Caesars NYC casino

The casino industry's quest to bring gambling to Manhattan faces a key test this week when an advisory panel weighs a Times Square proposal that has enraged much of Broadway.

- JOHN BIERS

Backers of the venture, including the rap musician and entrepreneur Jay-Z, have characterised the proposed $5.4 billion Caesars Entertainment gaming and hospitality venture a boon to New York, bringing an infusion of customers to a theatre district whose restaurants and small businesses suffered during the pandemic.

But opponents of the site, led by the Broadway League and some neighbourhood groups, are battling a project they see as cutting into theatre ticket sales and attracting unsavoury characters to New York's theatre mecca.

The two sides squared off last week at a rowdy public hearing, where Broadway League President Jason Laks was cheered by a sea of theatre union workers in red "Vote No" T-shirts as he made his case.

"We represent 100,000 New Yorkers who work in our industry," said Mr Laks, who has described the casino as an "existential" threat. "Please protect Broadway and its workers and vote down this casino."

But gaming giant Caesars and real estate firm SL Green have amassed a formidable coalition of their own, including a construction workers union and the Reverend Al Sharpton, whose organisation will oversee a new $15 million civil rights museum financed by the casino coalition if the Times Square proposal goes through.