The Adams administration hoped to place a 34,000-seat stadium in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, but its bid was met with criticism over the plan to lose public space to a private tournament.
In Las Vegas, the chief executive of Madison Square Garden is set to open a behemoth arena that he hopes will revolutionize live entertainment. Back home in New York, he is facing the wrath of lawyers, politicians and sports fans.
A sports book inside the Washington Commanders’ stadium is the first of its kind in the N.F.L. and a symbol of the league’s wholehearted — and profitable — embrace of gambling.