NEW YORK (AP) — Plans to build the Big Apple’s first full-service casino in the heart of the city have run out of luck.
A local panel on Monday rejected the last of three Manhattan proposals that had been among those vying for a new state license to operate a Las Vegas-style casino in the lucrative New York City market.
The proposal — a six-acre project near the United Nations headquarters dubbed “Freedom Plaza” and operated by Mohegan, the gaming company run by Connecticut’s Mohegan Tribe — was denied by a state-commissioned community advisory committee on a 4-2 vote.
A Jay-Z-backed plan to build a Caesars Palace casino in Times Square and another proposal for a gambling resort on Manhattan’s West Side in the Hudson Yards area were both voted down by two other local boards last week amid local opposition.
As in those votes, committee members in Monday's decision appointed by Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams were in favor of the Freedom Plaza project, but panel members representing local lawmakers said no.
“To be clear, this is not simply a rejection of a new casino in Manhattan — it is a rejection of new housing, new schools, billions of dollars in investment, and more for the borough,” said William Fowler, an Adams spokesperson.
The other local politicians, all Democrats like Hochul and Adams, said in a statement that residents voiced concerns during public hearings about the development's impact on congestion and public safety in the area.
Michael Hershman, CEO of the Soloviev Group, which was the lead developer on the more than $11 billion project, said Manhattan — the “undisputed capital of the world” — deserved the resort, which “would have attracted visitors while serving the needs of its community.”
Ray Pineault, CEO of Mohegan, argued the review process “did not allow for a recognition of the impact we could have had on the broader community of New York and the many individuals who would have benefited from new jobs, housing, and community benefits.”
Five proposals still remain in the race for up to three gaming licenses.
Among them is a proposed Bally’s casino on a Bronx public golf course once run by President Donald Trump’s company, a gambling hall envisioned for Coney Island’s iconic boardwalk in Brooklyn, and a Hard Rock casino proposed next to Citi Field in Queens, where the New York Mets play.
Two “racinos” — slot parlors built alongside horse racing tracks — that are already located in Yonkers and in Queens are also seeking a license to become full-fledged casinos with live table games such as blackjack and poker.
Local board approval is required for proposals to advance to the next stage in the competition. State gambling regulators expect to make their final decision in December.
Adams, who is running for reelection as an independent, has expressed surprise at the early demise of the some of the more high profile projects.
“Casinos can bring jobs. It can bring stability, tourism,” he said in a television interview ahead of Monday’s vote. “So, I was surprised at some of the negative votes. Let the final process make the decision. We should not be stopping them at this local level.”
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Associated Press reporter Anthony Izaguirre in Albany contributed to this story.
Follow Philip Marcelo at https://x.com/philmarcelo
FILE - A vacant lot is on 1st Avenue by the United Nations building in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on March 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market is holding steadier Tuesday as Wall Street waits for the next signal on when the war with Iran may end.
The S&P 500 added 0.4%, a day after its latest wild swings caused by extreme moves in the oil market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 313 points, or 0.7%, as of 1:43 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.6% higher.
Oil prices, meanwhile, continued to fall further below where they were late Monday. Spikes there have been rocking financial markets worldwide because of worries that the war could block the global flow of oil and natural gas for a long time.
The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, was sitting at $82.90. That’s down 16.2% from its settlement price the day before, though much of that decline happened before the U.S. stock market finished trading on Monday. That's why the drop did not give much of a boost to U.S. stocks Tuesday.
A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude was also shifting lower from where it was late Monday, at $80.34.
Oil prices plunged Monday afternoon from a high of nearly $120 per barrel, its most expensive level since 2022, after President Donald Trump told CBS News he thinks “the war is very complete, pretty much.” That raised hopes that the war may end sooner than later, which could allow oil to flow freely again from the Middle East to customers around the world.
But Trump’s comments later Monday, after the U.S. stock market finished trading, were not as clear. And a spokesperson for Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said that “Iran will determine when the war ends.” Iran launched new attacks Tuesday at Israel and Gulf Arab countries, keeping pressure on the Middle East in a war started by Israel and the United States.
That has Wall Street waiting for the next clue about how long the war may last.
One point where Trump remained clear was his desire to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. The war has effectively blocked much of the waterway off Iran’s coast, where a fifth of the world’s oil sails on a typical day. That's been a central reason for oil prices' extreme swings recently, which have dominated other financial markets and raised worries about the global economy.
“If Iran does anything that stops the flow of Oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far,” Trump said in a posting on his social media network late Monday.
“The outlook for oil right now is about as binary as it gets,” according to Hakan Kaya, senior portfolio manager at Neuberger Berman.
“Either the Strait of Hormuz reopens and you see a massive unwind of the risk premium, or it stays shut and we are looking at the largest supply disruption in modern history. There is no middle ground, and that is why putting a number on it is almost irresponsible.”
The International Energy Association said it will hold a meeting on Tuesday to discuss whether the 32 countries that are members should release some of their oil stockpiles to push downward on the price of oil.
The U.S. stock market has a history of bouncing back relatively quickly from past military conflicts, as long as oil prices don’t stay too high for too long. Uncertainty about whether that may happen this time around has led to stunning swings up and down for markets worldwide, often hour-to-hour.
If oil prices do stay high for long, household budgets already stretched by high inflation could break under the pressure. Companies would see their own bills jump for fuel and to stock items on their store shelves or in their data warehouses. It all raises the possibility of a worst-case scenario for the global economy, “stagflation,” where growth stagnates and inflation remains high.
On Wall Street, Vertex Pharmaceuticals leaped 8.5% for one of the biggest gains in the S&P 500 after reporting encouraging trends from a trial for its treatment for a life-threatening kind of kidney disease.
Stock markets in Asia and Europe jumped in their first chances to react to Trump’s comments from late Monday and the subsequent easing of oil prices. Indexes leaped 5.3% in South Korea, 2.2% in Hong Kong and 1.8% in France.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rose 2.9% after the government also released revised economic data showing Japan’s economy grew faster in the final quarter of last year than initially estimated.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was holding steady at 4.12%, where it was late Monday.
AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott and AP Videographer Ayaka McGill contributed.
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Meric Greenbaum works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
The New York Stock Exchange is seen in New York, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Pedestrians mill about outside the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), right, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Currency traders work at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
U.S. President Donald Trump is seen on a screen as traders work at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Currency trader react near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), rear left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A currency trader passes by a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), rear center, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, rear left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
