Advertisement

Suffolk Downs Casino Bid Could Be Good News For Downtown Crossing

Boston City Council President Stephen Murphy said Monday that the city will use the Suffolk Downs casino bid to pressure Vornado Realty Trust to develop or sell their Downtown Crossing site.

Vornado, of New York, owns a 20 percent stake in Suffolk Downs, the East Boston racetrack vying for one of the state's casino licenses.

Vornado bought the former Filene's Basement building and promised to construct a hotel, retail and housing complex. Nearly four years later, the site remains undeveloped.

"We want to talk about gaming, but we also want you to fix that damn hole in the ground a few miles from here," Murphy said. "Let's get them to do it. Let's work together to make sure they do it."

Vornado Realty did not immediately return calls for comment.

Earlier:

This program aired on January 2, 2012. The audio for this program is not available.

Advertisement

More from WBUR

Listen Live
Close