ELLEN GELLER KAMARAS
Here are three important updates regarding the contentious and glitzy Coney Project. First, Thor Equities revealed updated renderings on May 21, 2024, for its $3 billion casino, hotel, and entertainment complex, in its quest for the coveted downstate gaming license. Thor’s consortium consists of three partners, Saratoga Casino Holdings, which operates a racino (combination racetrack and casino) in New York’s Saratoga County, the Chickasaw Nation, a Native American Tribe that owns more than 20 gambling establishments, and Legends Global Planning, the proposed entertainment partner. Joe Sitt, Thor Equity’s founder, envisions turning Coney Island into a year-round destination instead of a summertime hangout, primarily limited to the boardwalk.
Second, on June 27, 2024, the NYS Gaming Commission and Gaming Facility Location Board (GFLB) amended (for a second time) its timeline for the RFA (Request for Applications) to develop and operate a gaming facility in NYS. The GFLB review process, community comment period, study of the impact on the neighborhood, and determination of who is awarded the license, are scheduled for some time in 2025.
Over two years ago, in April 2022, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed off on awarding three downstate licenses for casinos in New York. This was part of the $220 billion approved one year state budget.
Applicants had originally hoped that the licenses would be awarded by the end of 2023 or by early 2024.
Third, On April 18, 2024, the City Council voted to approve the Gaming Facility Text Amendment, which would create a framework within the zoning text to allow for the possible creation of up to three casinos citywide. NY State’s constitution was amended in 2013 to allow up to seven commercial casinos statewide.
Coney Island is one of three downstate gambling casino sites in the NYC area for which developers and gaming companies are bidding for licenses. There are eleven known applicants in the bidding war for these three casino sites.
The Coney’s supporters predict an ace in the hole with increased employment, visitors, and money.
Opponents see minimal economic benefits, point to the disappointing outcomes in Atlantic City, and are wary of increased crime and traffic and limited security resources. They also voice serious concerns about the harmful influence of a casino on our children and families.
Although the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce is in favor of the Coney, Community Board (CB) 13 and most of its underlying four district neighborhood residents, remain opposed to Joseph Sitt’s application for The Coney Project. Included in CB 13 is our own community and the Sephardic Community Federation .
The Coney consortium continues to publicize that The Coney will bring an economic boom and will rejuvenate the iconic and aging summer playland.
The May 2024 retooled drawings show “the gambling den” in the background of a luxurious 32-story 500-room hotel tower, expensive eateries, a 2,500-seat concert venue, 90,000 square feet of meeting and event space, retail and dining establishments, and a public green space.
The Sephardic Community Federation (SCF) has worked tirelessly to preserve the community’s values, protect against addiction risks and economic disruption, and ensure a prosperous and vibrant future for all residents of Southern Brooklyn. They took a leading position in encouraging other community organizations to join their fight against the Coney by creating the No Coney Casino Petition and website (www.noconeycasino.com/#SignthePetition).
What You Can Do
- Sign the Sephardic Community Federation’s “No Coney Casino” petition electronically, which takes about 30 seconds. Go to: www.noconeycasino.com/#SignthePetition.
- Sign the “Say ‘NO’ to Coney Island Casino!” started by residents of Coney Island and surrounding Southern Brooklyn neighborhoods, who are adamantly against having a casino built on the Coney Island peninsula (https://www.change.org/p/say-no-to-coney-island-casino?signed=true).
- Contact the officials listed below to find out who is representing them at the Community Advisory Committee meetings. Communicate your questions and concerns to:
NY State Senator Jessica Scarcella-Spanton, 718-727-9406.
Assemblyman Michael Novakhov (District 45), 718-743-4078.
Local City Council member Justin Brannan (District 47), 718-307-7151.
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, 718-802–3700.
Mayor Eric Adams, 311.
Governor Kathy Hochul, 518-474-8390.