Caesars Offers $5M Investment in Health Centers for Times Square Casino Bid

^{Caesars Entertainment and other Broadway interests have been trying to make the case for a couple years now that a new casino in Times Square would be good for the community. (Photo: Richard Levine / Alamy)}

The Caesars Palace Times Square casino bid announced that it would invest $5 million to expand the efforts of the Callen-Lorde Community Health Center if its proposal were to win one of the three available downstate casino licenses in New York.

The Times Square proposal, backed by Caesars Entertainment, SL Green, and Roc Nation, is among eight likely bids for the licenses that will be awarded at the end of 2025.

Callen-Lorde Supports Underserved NYC Communities

Callen-Lorde Community Health Center is known for providing medical care to the LGBTQ+ community in New York City without regard to a patient’s ability to pay. The community center at 356 West 18^th Street in Manhattan – along with satellite locations in Brooklyn and the Bronx – offer a variety of medical services, including STD testing and treatment.

In a press release announcing the pledge, Caesars Palace Times Square noted that New York City was experiencing an increase in sexually transmitted infections, and that LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities often faced difficulties getting timely diagnosis and treatment of STIs.

“The team behind Caesars Palace Times Square has taken a real and genuine interest in the health and wellbeing of the Hell’s Kitchen community,” Callen-Lorde CEO Patrick McGovern said in a statement. “With this funding, Callen-Lorde’s express clinic model will offer rapid, same-day test results and immediate treatment through an in-house retail pharmacy, reducing the typical 2-hour turnaround to just one hour.”

The commitment from Caesars Palace would include a $2 million commitment to support existing services, as well as $3 million to build a new Center for Excellence in Sexual Health, which would be located in Hell’s Kitchen – near the Times Square location the group is targeting for its proposed casino.

Caesars Palace Working to Win Over Community Skeptics

The pledge would improve services to communities that are typically underserved in heath care, but which are also heavily represented on Broadway and in the Hell’s Kitchen community. The Caesars Palace Times Square proposal has faced pushback from locals, but has made multiple pledges to support the community in an effort to win over opponents.

“At SL Green, we believe that vibrant neighborhoods are built on strong institutions, and Callen-Lorde is exactly that,” SL Green Senior Vice President Brett Herschenfeld said in a statement. “We are proud to support the expansion of their critical services in Hell’s Kitchen, where this state-of-the-art facility will dramatically improve access to rapid testing and treatment for New Yorkers most at risk.”

While Caesars Palace Times Square has positioned itself as one of the major contenders for a downstate New York casino license, it faces strong competition, including in its own backyard. 

Silverstein Properties is proposing its own Hell’s Kitchen casino known as the Avenir near the Javits Center. While that bid spent much of the last few years languishing in the background of casino discussions, it has gained momentum as of late, most recently through an announced partnership with hotel chain Destination by Hyatt.