Bally’s Bronx and The Coney: Political Firestorms Persist at Second Casino Hearings

The New York casino licensing race intensified this week as the Bally’s Bronx and The Coney bids held their second and final public hearings, with debate again sharply divided after fierce and rowdy first meetings.

Bally’s Bronx: ‘They want gamblers. They don’t want neighbors’

At the Ferry Point hearing on Tuesday night, tensions immediately boiled over, mirroring those of the August 19 first meeting.

In the opposing corner were City Councilmember Kristy Marmorato, the leading local opponent, and former Councilmember Marjorie Velázquez, with State Assemblymembers Amanda Septimo and Yudelka Tapia in support.

The Community Advisory Committee (CAC) had to pause the session, call the police to remove repeat hecklers, and even take a five-minute break while the crowd calmed down. Supporters and opponents traded interruptions and jeers.

Marmorato & Local Pushback

Marmorato came armed with fiery rhetoric: “This will fundamentally alter life in our neighborhood as we know it. The site was converted to a golf course for a reason. It is not built to handle huge, peak crowds.”

She also emphasized the promised parkland replacement, located six miles away, was “abandonment.”

“When I asked for acre-to-acre parkland replacement in our community, I was completely shut down… They are offering a replacement over six miles away in City Island. That is not a replacement. It is an abandonment of the people who actually use Ferry Point Park.“

Her tone grew sharper: “They want gamblers. They do not want neighbors.”

Velázquez struck a similar chord: “This is a neighborhood, not a playground for billionaires. You can’t just pave over our lives and tell us it’s progress.”

She added: “We’ve seen this before — they promise jobs, they promise investment, and what’s left behind is traffic, pollution, and people priced out of their own homes.”

Some residents echoed these fears. They warned that “once this land is privatized, we will never get it back,” and stated that the project was “being shoved down our throats without our consent.”

Supporters Stress Jobs & Equity

Septimo responded by leaning into Bronx equity concerns: “When is it our turn? We do not have the privilege to say, ‘You know what, I’m going to wait forever because somebody doesn’t want their park to change.’”

Tapia said: “This project creates stable middle-class careers right here in the Bronx… Union jobs, with community input, and with real benefits for Bronx residents. I am proud to support this proposal.”

One union representative said the $4 billion project would “deliver careers, not gigs.” They added, “These are jobs that let people buy homes, not just survive.”

Supporters argued it could transform the Bronx economy: “For decades, we’ve watched every major project go to Manhattan or Brooklyn. This is our chance to bring the future here.“

The Coney Hearing: Still Red Hot

The following evening in Coney Island, the second and final hearing drew a near-capacity crowd to the YMCA gym, where signs reading “Stop the Phoney” and “Yes to The Coney” were once again raised.

While the tone was less rowdy than the first hearing, the same sharp divide was evident.

Fierce Warnings From Opponents

Opponents warned of deep and lasting harm to the neighborhood if the $3.4 billion project moves forward.

One longtime resident and trustee of the Coney Island Gospel Assembly said:

“I’m 64 years old. I’ve been here all my life… What Coney Island needs is not an entity that is going to extract from what is already a community that is dying… You cannot bring darkness into light and help to lift people up. You cannot.”

Another speaker cautioned about financial ruin risks for families:

“Given the current state of the economy… they’re going to use money that is intended for rent and food to waste it over a casino… It will tear more families apart… a lot more crime is going to continue to happen because people and families are torn apart.”

A student from Brooklyn College’s Muslim Student Association framed it as predatory: “If we bring in this casino to our working-class community, we risk having more people addicted to gambling, more people struggling to afford this expensive city, and more people going bankrupt.“

Supporters Pitch Revival & Jobs

Developers, represented by Thor Equities, pitched economic revitalization as essential to Coney’s future:

“How do we transform and work within the existing framework that is there today and make Coney Island a year-round destination?” asked Thor Equities vice president Peter McEneaney, who recently unveiled a community investment fund.

Supporters, including a local NYCHA leader and business proponents, emphasized the importance of community engagement and job creation.

Robert Cornegy, founder of 610 Collective and a former council member, said: “We’ve had over 500 stakeholder meetings, 10,000 local signatures, 600 letters of support from NYCHA residents… This is a community-backed proposal.”

One senior resident chimed in: “I would love a job and to be able to bring some money home to my family.”

Others tied it to neighborhood revival. A lifelong resident said: “Coney Island is not what it used to be. We need to bring the life back… respectfully.”

Another added: “It’s dark and dismal here when the summer is over… Let’s make it year-round again.“

Two Hearings, Same Intensity: What’s at Stake

As the meetings for both Bally’s Bronx and The Coney were second acts, the CAC must now vote by September 30 whether to advance the bids to the New York Gaming Facility Board for review. The state will award up to three licenses, with eight candidates in contention.

Both proposals remain among the most polarizing, with developers pitching them as economic lifelines for two lower-income areas.

In the Bronx, the parkland issue turned into a debate over trust, identity, and whether the neighborhood’s voices truly matter. In Brooklyn, the clash centered on legacy, community control, and the tension between economic promise and cultural preservation.

The post Bally’s Bronx and The Coney: Political Firestorms Persist at Second Casino Hearings appeared first on CasinoBeats.