A key community advisory panel on Monday approved gaming and entertainment company Bally’s plan to bring full-scale casino gambling to the Bronx, making it the third downstate gaming proposal to advance to a final round of scrutiny.
The vote was 5-to-1 in favor of the $4 billion project, eyed for 16 acres at Ferry Point. It was followed hours later by a 4-2 vote against The Coney casino gambling project proposed for Coney Island in Brooklyn.
“I know what it feels like when our borough is left behind,” said Alex Porco, a committee member appointed by state Sen. Nathalia Fernandez, who voted for the Bally's Bronx project. “This project will finally mean self-sufficiency for the Bronx.”
Bally's has argued the project would serve as “an economic engine for the Bronx” and as the borough’s largest private development, with 3 million square feet of gaming facilities, a 500-room hotel and 2,000-person event center. The project would generate $1.5 billion in annual economic impact for the Bronx and $1.9 billion for the state, as well as $357 million in annual state and local taxes, according to the company.
The Bronx vote followed committee decisions on five other casino projects this month. While bids in Yonkers and Queens have also advanced to the final round, three Manhattan bids were voted down. All projects approved by the committees move to the final round, in which the state gaming facility location board will determine which projects are granted any of three downstate casino licenses.
The Bally's project could ultimately benefit President Donald Trump. The Ferry Point site is currently home to a city-owned golf course, but Bally’s paid the Trump Organization $60 million for the lease. If the casino proposal is greenlit, Bally's would owe the Trump organization another $115 million.
The proposal seemingly hit a wall when the City Council over the summer opposed a rezoning required for the project. But Mayor Eric Adams vetoed the council’s decision, thus resuscitating the bid.
The mayor’s move drew a rebuke at the time from council spokesperson Mara Davis, who pointed to a record of “hypocrisy and unethical conduct” on the part of the Adams administration.
The Bronx proposal has also become enmeshed in the city’s mayoral politics.
Politico reported last week that Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, serves as a consultant to Bally’s and had reportedly proposed to Adams that the mayor end his re-election bid in return for an ambassadorship to Saudi Arabia.
The purported behind-the-scenes maneuvering came amid calls from Trump that opposition to Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani consolidate, to bolster chances of defeating Mamdani in the general election. Adams exited the race over the weekend, leaving former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, running as an independent, and Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee, to vie against Mamdani.
The White House did not immediately respond to questions raised by the Politico report. Nor did Adams campaign spokesperson Todd Shapiro, who told Politico that “any claims tying him to casino proposals are simply false.”
“Mayor Adams does not mix his responsibilities as mayor with private business interests — period,” Shapiro said.
William Fowler, a spokesperson for Adams, said in a statement to Gothamist that Politico had floated “inaccurate insinuations” about the mayor. He added that the mayor supports a competitive casino process “where every proposal in the five boroughs has a fair shot in the state’s process.”
“We have worked with every applicant to ensure an even playing field for every proposal in the state’s process, including Bally’s,” Fowler said, “and despite efforts to derail this proposal before it even had a shot in the competition, we are pleased to see it move forward today.”
Danielle Volpe, a committee appointee of local Councilmember Kristy Marmorato, cast the sole vote against the Bronx project, arguing it would generate substantial traffic and air pollution. Volpe said support for the bid did not reflect the “will of the people.”
In a July release after the Council voted against the project, Marmorato said she had sought to “protect her community from predatory development.”
Also Monday, a community advisory committee rejected plans for The Coney, a sprawling gambling and entertainment complex. A community advisory committee on Tuesday weighs in on a final casino proposal, Metropolitan Park, eyed for a site near Citi Field in Queens.
This story has been updated with additional information.
