Billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Aldelson wants to build a Las Vegas Sands casino-convention complex at the Javits Center — if New York ever legalizes gambling casinos.
“There’s a little noise in New York now, and we’re going to take a look and see if we can put something . . . maybe in Manhattan and be able to maybe do something with [the Jacob K. Javits Center] . . . and put our complex there,” Las Vegas Sands Corp. President Mike Leven told HotelNews.com.
LVS spokesman Ron Reed told The Post yesterday that the company is looking at building an “integrated resort development’’ that encompasses casinos and convention centers and other entertainment.
But opponents, noting New York’s record-shattering tourism numbers, say a casino on the far West Side is undesirable.
East Side Assemblyman Micah Kellner, who serves on the Racing and Wagering Committee, vowed to “do everything possible” to block a casino he said would “drastically transform” the West Side “in a way many don’t want to see.”
Meanwhile, the Legislature stripped from the budget Gov. Cuomo’s plan to have the state sell and raze the land in and around Javits to build a Battery Park City-like “21st Century Neighborhood” of homes, parks and hotels.