A six-person community advisory committee on Wednesday rejected a proposal from rapper Jay-Z’s Roc Nation company and its partners to bring a casino to New York City’s Times Square.
Per XXL, the committee voted 4-2 to turn down the proposal following initial protests from the Broadway League, the trade association for theater owners and producers, the Shubert Organization, IATSE, among others.
Had their bid been approved, the casino would have been situated in the same building as the renowned Minskoff Theatre – which is home to Disney’s The Lion King – and Viacom.
Roc Nation partnered with SL Green, Caesars Entertainment, and Live Nation in 2023 to table a proposal to receive a gambling license in New York City. Officials are looking at granting three gambling licences in the city, but it now appears that Roc Nation and its partners are out of the race.
Roc Nation had promised to distribute grants amounting to millions of dollars in New York if the proposal was approved. Jay-Z, 55, and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins also met in May as the billionaire rapper and businessman set his sights on having their bid approved, per XXL.
“Thank you to Governor Hochul and Mayor Adams for standing up for NYC,” Roc Nation CEO Desiree Perez said in statement after their bid was rejected. “Unfortunately, not every politician has the courage and foresight to do what’s right for their constituents.”
The CEO of SL Green Realty Corporation, Marc Holliday, also registered his displeasure with the rejection and reportedly confronted the committee members after their official decision.
“We met the standard,” Holliday said. “The only person with the courage to stand up is the governor and the mayor. And everybody else just runs and hides.”
Meanwhile, Jason Laks, President of The Broadway League and a member of the No Times Square Casino Coalition, welcomed the committee’s decision in a statement.
“This was a vote to protect the magic of Broadway for the one hundred thousand New Yorkers who depend on it for their livelihoods, and for the tens of millions who come from around the world to experience it. A casino can go anywhere, but Broadway only lives here,” Laks said.
Jay-Z would have become the first Black casino owner in Times Square if the proposal had not been rejected, XXL reported.
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