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Edited by: Fern Sidman
The controversial proposal to build a gambling mecca and entertainment complex in Coney Island is falling flat on its face with local residents and with members of Community Board 13.
The New York Post reported on Saturday that the Coney Island community board overwhelmingly passed a resolution rejecting the casino plan with a vote of 23-8. The community board chairwoman Lucy Mujica Diaz has repeatedly said that she doesn’t Coney Island turned into another Atlantic City, where casinos surround neighborhoods that are challenged with abject poverty, violent crime and rampant drug use.
Dias said, “We don’t want what Atlantic City has. We’re already drowning in traffic half the year. Now you want to bring more traffic in. We don’t want it.”
CB 13 said Coney Island already “suffers from a high crime rate” and that a casino will lead to an “addiction-driven machine” and “destroy our quality of life and destroy families,” offsetting some job creation, the Post reported.
The Post reported that board members are appointed by the borough and local council members — elected officials who’ll sit on a sitting board to determine if a casino in Coney Island is desirable.
Brooklyn Councilman Ari Kagan, who represents Coney Island said, “I completely agree with the overwhelming opposition from the community in Coney Island. I hear this not just in Coney Island but all over southern Brooklyn. … The overwhelming majority of people I talk to are against the casino,” as was reported by the Post. Kagan said a casino at Surf and Stillwell avenues will bring more traffic, crime and mental health problems.
The casino and entertainment complex is being pushed by a Coney Island consortium vying for one of three potential. downstate licenses, the Post reported. The consortium consists of Thor Equities, who announced the $3 billion casino proposal in November. They are in partnership with Saratoga Casino Holdings and the Chickasaw Nation in an attempt to secure one of up to three new casino licenses aimed at the New York City region, the New York Times reported. Saratoga Casino Hotel is a company based in upstate New York and the Chickasaw Nation is a Native American tribe that operates 23 casinos in Oklahoma.
Also involved in the project dubbed “The Coney” which would include a casino, waterpark, hotels, a museum and more is Legends Hospitality Group, which serves venues including Yankee Stadium and One World Observatory, the Daily News reported.
New York real estate mogul Joe Sitt of Thor Equities joined a race that was expected to feature a crowded field of heavyweight contenders, including Steve Cohen, the hedge fund manager who owns the New York Mets, Stephen Ross, the billionaire developer of Hudson Yards and the owners of casino-like racetracks with slot machines in Queens and Yonkers.
One of the consortium representatives is Robert Cornegy, a former New York City Council member for the 36th district in which he represented Bedford-Stuyvesant and northern Crown Heights in Brooklyn.
At an April 19th community forum held at Gargiulo’s restaurant in Coney Island, Cornegy insisted that over 3,300 local residents had signed a petition in favor of the establishment of a casino and hotel in the historic amusement area, yet he did not provide a response as to why none of them were present at the forum to explain why they feel that casino gambling would be beneficial to them and their fellow residents.
Coney Island residents expressed their concerns about local businesses losing substantial revenue, property taxes soaring, the proliferation of violent crime, traffic congestion, population displacement, the dangers of gambling addiction and more.
“This project is a travesty,” one speaker fumed. “Please leave us alone!” another remarked. “You can’t come in and give a vague promise of jobs,” said a third, as was reported by the Daily News.
Michael DeLoach, another consortium consultant, said at the April 19th forum that with the digging of a million and a half square feet of property it allows for many things to be accomplished including vast improvements in the sewer, water and electrical grids. He also said that with the additional revenue that would come in due to casino gambling that could possibly mean that more resources will be granted to the local 60th precinct to put more cops on the streets to make the neighborhood safer as well as more traffic agents that would be deployed.
His assertion was met with one woman in the audience responding with a very loud singular expression of “Bull—Sh-t.”
The Post reported that the resolution that was shot down by CB13 was stacked against the casino and entertainment complex. Typically resolutions ask whether a voting member is for or against a project — with a “yes” vote being for the project and “no” vote being against it.
But the five-page casino resolution — with critical information claiming how bad the project would be for Coney Island — say a “yes” vote was to reject the casino bid and a “no” vote was in support of it, the Post added.
The resolution also faulted the consortium for wanting a Citi Bike docking station, which CB 13 opposes because of traffic problems, the Post reported. The resolution pointed out that 10 new residential complexes housing approximately 5,000 people with minimal to no parking were recently constructed — and eight more are planned.
“Our community cannot endure the substantial burden and problems that this venue will generate,” the board’s resolution said, as was reported by the Post.
“We request that our local elected officials collaborate with us to address our existing problems, not drown us with additional problems. Community Board 13 is listening to our community and recommends opposing a casino development in our district and urges our elected officials to inform the Gaming Commission the decision of the community they represent.”
For his part, consortium representative Robert Cornegy said, “I do believe that the resolution was unfair to the project by wording it that way and steering the vote that way. I haven’t seen a resolution worded that way before,” he said, according to the Post report.
The consortium released renderings last month that showed a dazzling new “Coney” casino and hotel would be erected just steps from the storied Brooklyn boardwalk and beach, located smack between the iconic Cyclone and Wonder Wheel. The Post also reported that a sleek, glass-enclosed hotel with a multi-colored rooftop would be built right behind the casino. The plan also includes a convention hall.
“A gaming and entertainment venue on Coney Island is going to bring year-round jobs, create economic opportunities, improve public safety, help small businesses, and revitalize an iconic community looking to build a brighter future,” the consortium said in a statement Sunday,
“New Yorkers know a good deal when they see one, that’s why after going door to door and business to business, we’ve received more than 3,300 signatures from the community in support of the gaming and entertainment venue and why we will continue going everywhere and talking to everyone about why Coney Island just makes sense.”
The casino consortium added, “Any judgements about this project – which is going to have enormous benefits – before the full details and community benefits agreement are finalized is premature, shortsighted and leaves the community struggling with the very same issues around unemployment, infrastructure and public safety it currently bemoans.”
