The Coney. Credit: Thor Equities
Brooklyn won’t be getting a casino any time soon, but the Bronx might. Hours apart on Monday, community advisory committees voted in favor of the Bally’s Bronx proposal and voted against The Coney, a $3.4 billion project from Thor Equities and the only Brooklyn bid.
The Bally’s Bronx at Ferry Point Park proposal was approved in a 5-1 vote by the neighborhood committee. The project, which includes a $4 billion casino, hotel, and entertainment complex at the golf course formerly owned by President Donald Trump’s company. The bid survived an earlier rejection by the City Council, a decision which Mayor Eric Adams vetoed.
The project required a two-thirds majority from the CAC, which is made up of local elected officials, to secure approval. Danielle Volpe—appointed by Council Member Kristy Marmorato, who had initiated the zoning rejection—was the only member to vote against the project.
If awarded one of the state’s coveted downstate gaming licenses, the project would become the largest private development in the borough’s history. Bally’s would also pay $115 million to the Trump Organization under a 2023 agreement struck when the company acquired the property from the president.
According to Bronx Times, Volpe said her vote reflected the concerns of residents. She expressed being “deeply concerned” about Bally’s financial stability and argued that the casino would bring “traffic, crime, and instability” to the borough.
“What is being offered to us through this casino proposal is not worth the burden it would place on the Bronx,” she said. “This proposal is unresponsive, dismissive, and disconnected from the surrounding community.”
Lisa Sorin, chair of the CAC, said she voted to approve the bid while emphasizing a commitment to holding Bally’s accountable for its promises to the community. The committee also noted that the company had increased its prior financial commitment to a Community Benefits Fund from approximately $27 million to $32 million annually after the casino opens.
Alex Porco, a CAC member, praised the approval, saying Bally’s has met the borough’s requirements.
“The way these CACs were set up was so the public could level the playing field,” Porco said. “If a company wants to come in and do business, they need to become a community partner, put their money where their mouth is, and be accountable to the people who allow them to do business here.”
He added, “We have pushed for all these aspects, and to their credit, Bally’s has met our requests. This project could finally mean self-sufficiency for the Bronx.”
The proposal first received Council support in June, when members voted 32-12 to pass a home rule resolution allowing state lawmakers to advance legislation to “alienate” roughly 16 acres of public parkland—a necessary step whenever city-owned park space is repurposed for private use.
It advanced with support from Adams. While home rule actions typically require a two-thirds majority, the threshold drops to a simple majority when accompanied by a formal message of support from the mayor. Without Adams’ endorsement, the resolution would have fallen two votes short, as 6sqft previously reported.
However, the project quickly drew criticism from local officials and community members concerned about the impact of a casino in the area. The site is also relatively close to MGM Empire City in Yonkers, another casino vying for a full-scale gaming license that received approval to advance on Thursday.
In July, the City Council voted 29-9, with four abstentions, to approve a motion by Marmorato denying the land-use changes needed to build the gaming facility. Marmorato said the developers had come “to the table a little too late, with promises too vague and a process too flawed to rebuild the trust that was already lost in our community.”
Later that month, Adams announced his veto of the Council’s decision, giving the body 10 days to secure the 34 votes needed to override it, which never happened.
On Monday afternoon, the bid for The Coney was rejected in a 4-2 vote. A joint proposal from Saratoga Casino Holdings, Global Gaming Solutions, Legends, and Thor Equities, The Coney called for a 32-story hotel, a convention center, and a three-level gaming facility, found along the neighborhood’s iconic boardwalk and beach.
The project faced strong opposition from residents, including the local community board, Coney Island USA, Luna Park, and other stakeholders, citing insufficient community benefits. Despite last-minute amendments to the bid, including increasing a community trust fund to $300 million from $200 million, the plan failed to move any nay votes.
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso announced he would not vote for the project last week.
“Over the course of months and months of engagement, The Coney has failed to prove itself as a public good,” Reynoso said in a statement. “The proposal is deeply unimpressive and unresponsive to the needs, desires, and rich history of the Coney Island community. Quite simply, it will not improve conditions for the Brooklynites who call Coney Island home.”
Bally’s Bronx casino joins only two other proposals that have received approval from their respective CACs: Resorts World NYC in Jamaica and MGM Empire City in Yonkers. Both of those bids aim to convert existing gaming facilities into full-scale casinos, unlike other remaining proposals, including Bally’s, which would require entirely new developments.
The remaining bid, New York Mets owner Steve Cohen’s $8 billion “Metropolitan Park” next to Citi Field, will be voted on this Tuesday at 11 a.m.
The advancing casino bids will be voted on in December by the Gaming Facility Location Board, followed by the Gaming Commission.
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