You Can Stop Casino Gambling in Coney Island

You Can Stop Casino Gambling in Coney Island

The Jewish Voice has learned that in the next few days or possibly weeks the contentious issue of whether a casino gambling mecca will be constructed in Coney Island will be determined by residents, developers and the consortium involved in this project.

Now is the time for those Brooklyn residents who wish to weigh in on this issue to do so. We urge you to write to New York City Mayor Eric Adams, New York Governor Kathy Hochul, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and other local  New York City elected officials.

On July 23^rd, casino.org reported that the team behind the $3 billion proposed casino resort for Coney Island believes their bid best satisfies the New York Gaming Location Board’s qualifying criteria that mandates applicants demonstrate how their projects would provide an economic jumpstart in the community where it’s built.

A recent public engagement report detailed opinions from more than 200 area residents. Some voiced fears about a casino possibly bringing increased crime, drug use, addiction, and higher rents along with its slot machines and table games

As the issue of casino gambling coming to iconic Coney Island continues to draw attention by critics and supporters alike, one must take a thorough look at the situation that Coney Island and its residents find themselves in.  As the Jewish Voice previously reported, Community Board 13 has held public forums on this very matter and it is quite apparent that the vast majority of people in the neighborhood are adamantly opposed to the establishment of casino gambling on this already overcrowded peninsula.

This display of opposition was the latest instance of local pushback during the intense competition for a coveted $500 million casino license in New York City that would be granted by the New York State Gaming Facility Location Board.  In November of 2022, Joe Sitt, a long time developer in the Coney Island area, and chief executive of the company he owns known as Thor Equities, announced the $3 billion casino proposal, 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.

Several hundred concerned residents gathered several months ago to offer a litany of cogent reasons why a casino in Coney Island would have a deleterious effect on the storied Brooklyn neighborhood.

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 when voicing their opposition to gambling.

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.

Diaz 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.

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.

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.

“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.”