In December, New York’s Gaming Facility Location Board will decide who in New York City gets one of three downstate licenses for a casino. There are currently 11 major multibillion-dollar development proposals on the table right now, each promising neighborhood revitalizations, mixed uses spaces, new parks, and other amenities.
One developer, however, is hoping that a new museum will put its bid over the top, Gothamist reported Monday.
The development firm Soloviev Group has placed its proposed $10 billion casino development on midtown Manhattan’s east side, from 38th Street to 41st Street, at the site of a former Con Edison power plant. The development, per City & State, would include a Mohegan-run casino at a whopping 295,000 square feet, as well as high rise apartment buildings, a 1,250-room hotel, 500 units of affordable housing, and 4.7 acres of waterfront park land. (C&S has brown down all of the proposals.)
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The development, adjacent to the United Nations and dubbed Freedom Plaza, would also include a Museum of Freedom and Democracy. While not much information has been released about the proposed museum, the developer told the New York Post last month that it would feature international artists and permanently display slabs from the Berlin Wall.
Soloviev’s development isn’t yet approved, but CEO Michael Hershman told the New York Times that the company is currently putting in a similarly themed installation on the site, “Path of Liberty: That Which United Us.” Set to open next month, “Path of Liberty” is being designed by creative studio C&G Partners and directed by Daniella Vale. It features giant screens and interviews with people across the country on the importance of freedom. Hershman said the group will do another installation next year to celebrate the 250th anniversary of 1776.
“The last thing I want, since this is a birthday celebration, is to get into a political discussion,” he told the Times in December. “This is a time for building bridges.”
Hershman, meanwhile, told Gothamist that the idea for the museum came from observing a decline in patriotism and care for democracy. He is hoping the museum could help fix that.
“ I just don’t think some of the folks in this country are appreciative enough of what we have,” Hershman said. “So I want to stimulate this conversation. And it’s a perfect place to do it: New York City.”
One can imagine that Hershman, and Soloviev, are also hoping that such a civic-minded project steers state officials their way come December.