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The gloves are off over a controversial proposal to build a glitzy $12 billion casino complex in Hudson Yards — with local hard hats pitted against lovers of the High Line.
The Building and Construction Trades Council is set to hold a “We Build” rally Thursday in support of Related Companies/Wynn Resorts’ job-creating plan for a casino, office and housing complex at the Manhattan site.
In its lead-up to the rally, the construction union bashed Friends of the High Line, the non-profit that runs the stunning nearby elevated public park with the city and claims the plan’s massive skyscrapers will negatively impact the famous open space.
“It is in fact the elite who serve on the High Line Board that do not want development because they believe their sunlight and view are more important than career opportunities,” trade-union President Gary LaBarbera fumed in a note to his union affiliates.
“Please join me with your members on October 24, 2024, at 555 West 18th Street at 3:30pm to raise our voices, call out the truth and send a message to elected officials that we will no longer be silent and that career opportunities, pathways to the middle class are simply more important than a few minutes of shade!!”
Friends of the High Line, dumbfounded by the attack, released a poll Monday showing strong opposition from West Side voters to the mega casino development as currently designed.
The plan features an 80-story tower overlooking the Hudson River that would house a casino and hotel. Office buildings, apartment towers and a spacious 5.6-acre park would surround the gleaming casino skyscraper.
The casino plan, and its required zoning changes, still need state and city approvals to move forward.
LaBarbera told Friends of the Highline Executive Director Alan van Cappelle in an Oct. 11 letter, “We appreciate the experience of the High Line.
“However, we cannot let the fact that a new building may create new shadows prevent our City from moving forward. We live in a vertical City. We must continue to build. We must continue creating opportunities for our City’s residents, including residents of this community, to earn a middle-class lifestyle. We must raise our voices and be heard.
“Too often the will of the powerful few overcome the interests of the many, we cannot stand down and let this continue,” he said.
But the Friends of the High Line survey found that 56% of West Side voters oppose the proposed zoning changes that would allow for the casino project over the Western Rail Yards, while only 24% support it.
Another 70% of voters say that placing a new 6 million square-foot development with a casino and three new skyscrapers directly adjacent to the northern part of The High Line would hurt neighboring West Side communities.
“New Yorkers want to see responsible development that respects our existing community
commitments,” van Capelle said.
“This polling confirms what we’ve heard from countless residents: the current rezoning proposal threatens not only the High Line’s unique experience but also the community benefits that were promised in 2009.”
Van Capelle also told The Post that Friends of the High Line are not anti-development — but they want responsible building.
“We want the Western Rail Yards developed,” he said. “The Building Trades Council wants the Western Rail Yards developed. And that would be happening right now if Related and Wynn hadn’t secretly changed their original plans without community input.
“The Building Trades should be protesting Related for slowing down development with their changes that permanently harm the High Line and the community,” he said.
The survey of 1,298 voters was conducted for Friends of the High Line by Public Policy Polling in the West Side districts of state Sen. Brad Hoylman, City Councilman Erik Bottcher and Assemblyman Tony Simone. It has a margin of error of plus or minus. 2.7 percentage points.
In a warning shot at local politicians,, 53% of voters said that moving ahead with the casino development would make them less likely to back their local elected representative, while 11% said it would make them more likely to support them, and 25% said it would not make a difference.
Related Companies, informed of the negative survey, accused Friends of the High Line of running an anti-development scare campaign.
“The Friends of the High Line want to kill jobs, affordable housing and even a new green, public park—to preserve ‘views’ of an ugly railyard,” a re[ for Related said.
“While they spend their time running a disinformation campaign and misleading the community, we have been going door to door directly meeting with hundreds of residents and local groups to share the benefits of our plan for the Western Yards.”
LaBarbera of the Building and Construction Trades Council also dismissed the poll.
“This isn’t about a casino, it’s about building in a vertical city and a manipulated poll doesn’t change the need that for this city to grow, and for workers to afford to live here, we must build upward,” he said.
