In opposition of the proposed Caesars Palace Times Square Casino, several digital marquees of Broadway theaters will display the phrase “No Times Square Casino” on Aug. 13. The marquees of 16 Main Stem houses, including the Majestic, Palace, Samuel J. Friedman and St. James, along with several Times Square billboards, will display the messaging from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
The marquee messages will coincide with a theater community rally against the proposed casino, which will take place in front of Scandinavia House, located at 58 Park Avenue (between 37th and 38th Streets) in Manhattan, at 9 a.m. The demonstration will immediately precede the Community Advisory Committee’s (CAC) first public hearing regarding the project at Scandinavia House.
The rally is organized by the No Times Square Casino Coalition, a grassroots organization comprised of 35 Times Square-area groups, including the Broadway League; the Entertainment Community Fund; New York Theater Locals of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), the union whose members include stagehands, artisans and technicians on Broadway; the Shubert Organization; TDF; 54 Below; the Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers (ATPA); Hell’s Kitchen Neighborhood Association; the Hell’s Kitchen Block Association; the West 45th Street Block Association; the West 47th-48th Streets Block Association; the United Federation of Teachers; Times Square Church; as well as theater district eateries Sardi’s, Joe Allen, Orso and Bar Centrale.
A 2024 neighborhood survey conducted by Tulchin Research indicated 71% of respondents opposed the construction of a casino in the heart of the theater district.
