Another Bad Week for Casinos in New York City

The week started with the implosion of the casino proposal at the Bally’s golf course in the Bronx.

On Monday, the City Council voted against the operator’s request for zoning changes that were necessary to turn a portion of the city-owned golf course at Bally’s Golf Links into a $4 billion casino complex, complete with a 500-room hotel and 2,000-seat entertainment facility.

Without the zoning changes, Bally’s lacks a path forward in the state’s competition for one of three downstate casino licenses up for grabs. Bally’s Chair Soo Kim said the vote was “incredibly disappointing” and that the company was processing and evaluating next steps.

While Bally’s is struggling to get its proposal off the ground, Five Points Development’s Boris Kuzinez is past that stage at 262 Fifth Avenue with little to show for it.

Kuzinez announced the project in 2017, but contended with years of starts and stalls on the work, then halving of the units the Flatiron development was slated to deliver.

The project finally received approval from the attorney general’s office on its offering plan in December and topped out last year. But the only movement at the property has been loan trading between the project’s two lenders, Madison Realty Capital and Cottonwood Group.

Sales were expected to launch this spring, but were delayed to “ensure we’re coming to market at the most advantageous moment,” according to a Five Points spokesperson. They added that sales are expected to launch shortly.

The Chetrit family is under the watchful eye of the city, which filed a civil lawsuit against brothers Meyer and Joseph Chetrit, alleging they’ve failed to properly maintain the Hotel Carter in Times Square

The city claims the Chetrits have accumulated more than 155 violations at the 120-year-old property at 250 West 43rd Street, alleging the brothers have “abandoned this project” after defaulting on a $233 million mortgage earlier this year; the Chetrits paid $192 million in 2015 to purchase the hotel

“We’ll be working with the city to resolve these violations,” a spokesperson for the family claimed.

Another real estate mogul running into problems is Charles Cohen. An Italian court issued the temporary seizure of a 220-foot megayacht owned by Cohen’s wife Clo in the port of Loana as Fortress Investment Group looks to collect on its $187 million court judgment against Cohen.

The Seasense superyacht, valued at $48 million, is moored in Italy and cannot leave without court approval.

Cohen defaulted on a $534 million loan from Fortress backed by a number of his properties. But Cohen was also held liable for a $187 million guarantee he provided to Fortress, touching off a nasty dispute between the two sides.

And finally, the era of the 99-unit development is headed to Jamaica, Queens. Relative unknown Ami Weinstock filed plans for not one, not two, not three…but six 99-unit projects on 165th Street.

FBE Limited, associated with the Fruchthandler family, appears to own the parcels, having purchased the development sites in 2022 for $51.5 million.

The 485x tax abatement program, designed to incentivize affordable rentals, has also incentivized the development buildings with just under 100 units. That can mean putting smaller properties on a larger parcel, as is the case with Weinstock.