Casino Gambling in Coney Island? Angry Residents Respond With a Resounding “NO!” at Community Board 13 Forum 

By: Fern Sidman

Video highlights of the community board meeting 

By: Fern Sidman

Sparks were flying on Wednesday evening at the iconic Gargiulo’s restaurant in the heart of Coney Island as residents strongly voiced their staunch opposition to the building of a proposed gambling casino and hotel during a heated meeting where developers were confronted with some pretty tough questions and even more convincing comments.

The New York Daily News reported that 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.  Several hundred concerned residents gathered to offer a litany of cogent reasons why a casino in Coney Island would have a deleterious effect on the storied Brooklyn neighborhood.

Serving as emcee at the Wednesday evening form was Lucy Mujica Diaz, the chairwoman of Community Board 13, who did an outstanding job in keeping order in the contentious and often rancorous public forum.

Representatives of the project also did their best to convince a cynical audience of the benefits that will allegedly be bestowed upon them if casino gambling could become a reality in their cherished neighborhood. One of the representatives was 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.

As 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, 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.

One name that kept popping up amongst the resident questioners was that of New York City real estate mogul, Joe Sitt.  In November of 2022, 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.

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.

Sitt 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.

Many residents spoke of Sitt in a negative light, saying that he made promises in the past that were never fulfilled. One resident who said that he was a son of “Coney Island” said that trust in promises made by developers needs to be earned.

“As a member of the African-American community, I can tell you about those who offer us jobs. 400 years ago, we were offered jobs and that is how we got to America. Instead of offering us jobs, why don’t we hear about these developers offering us investment and partnership in our community.”

He added that both former President Donald Trump and his late father Fred Trump displaced his family from their longtime home when the real estate titan needed the land they lived on for a building he was constructing.

“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.

Another resident and community board member likened a vision of Coney Island as a gambling mecca to the dystopian environment that Atlantic City has devolved into.  He said that in the blocks surrounding the casino, crime is rampant and locals live in abject poverty and destitution. “Casino employees, who are making good money don’t live in Atlantic City, but those who do live there do not benefit from job opportunities, nor do they benefit from hefty local revenues that the casinos bring in. Rather, when one leaves the immediate area of the casinos and goes past there, one is taking one’s life in their hands.”

Besides offering community residents jobs paying $30 or more dollars per hour and touting other economic benefits,  Michael DeLoach, a consultant, said 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 60^th 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.”

Not a single member of the public expressed outright support for the plan.

The Daily News reported that DeLoach said that, “It’s never easy to come to a meeting where so many people are opposing something. We’re taking everything in that you’re saying. There are some really strong reasons for concern and we’re going to work with you and demonstrate that this project will deliver for the community.”

Also addressing the assemblage at the forum was New York City Councilman Ari Kagan who represents Bensonhurst, Coney Island, Gravesend, and Sea Gate. Speaking to representatives DeLoach and Cornegy, Councilman Kagan said that he strongly opposes the casino gambling project and mentioned that he received information from the city’s economic development corporation and the city’s Parks Department that was contradictory to the information that the representatives were offering. “When I spoke with city agencies just today, they did not tell me that Joe Sitt was ready to give $250 million to the Oceanside Ferry Project and when I spoke to the Parks Department, they did not tell me that Sitt was ready to give $500 million for the boardwalk project, so I do not know who you have been talking to, Kagan said.

He also addressed the issue of traffic congestion, crime and the negative impact that a casino would have in terms of drawing more crime to the area. “There are only three streets that bring people in and out of Coney Island and those are Neptune Avenue, Mermaid Avenue and Surf Avenue and with the explosion of traffic that the casino will bring, that will be a nightmare for residents of this area and that is totally unacceptable, “ Kagan declared.

The application process for the casino is at its genesis at the present time and many predict that there is long road ahead for the bid to come to fruition.

Two of the three slots are widely expected to go to existing “racinos” in Queens and Yonkers. The Daily News also reported that other casino proposals around the city, at locations like Times Square and near the United Nations in Midtown, have also met with local opposition.