BIG unveil new renderings for NYC Freedom Plaza project possibly coming to Midtown

Gambling, skyscrapers and museums, sounds like Manhattan.

New renderings of the proposed Freedom Plaza project in New York City's Midtown were released by architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) Monday, featuring the project's public spaces and a "Musuem of Freedom and Democracy."

The centerpiece of the project is a pair of skyscrapers that are connected by a cantilevered skybridge with a rooftop infinity pool. The over six-acre project on the East River would include two hotels, two residential towers, the museum, retail space, a public plaza and a subterranean casino.

Bjarke Ingels, BIG founder and creative director, said that the design is intended to connect the Freedom Plaza project to the nearby United Nations building.

"We continue to build on these architectural principles by uniting three city blocks to form a public green space reaching from 1st Avenue to the East River overlook, creating a green connection all the way to the water’s edge,” Ingels said in a statement.

Affordable housing hinges on casino approval

Freedom Plaza is one of the projects competing for three gaming licenses approved by the state in the New York City area. Developer Soloviev Group tied the building of 513 units of affordable housing to the approval of the gambling license.

If the license is granted, the project would create more affordable housing in the section of the city than was built in the 2010's, according to the New York Times.

"We don't have to do it," Michael Hershman, Soloviev Group CEO, told the Times.

The Times reported in October, when the affordable housing portion was announced, that the project did not have clear cut community support. Manhattan Community Board 6, the community board in which the project sits, voted in 2022 to reject any proposal for the site that included a casino.

“The revenue generated by the project’s entertainment and hospitality component will allow Freedom Plaza to deliver the affordable housing program and expansive publicly accessible green space, with many more details yet to be announced,” Ray Pineault, CEO and President of Mohegan — the company that would operate the hotels and casino — said in a statement last year.

Freedom Plaza Renderings