The Bally’s Community Advisory Committee (CAC) met on Sept. 15 to approve several amendments to the gaming company’s application to build a casino-resort in Ferry Point Park — all aimed at ensuring ongoing, community-focused investment in the East Bronx.
At the livestreamed meeting, the committee’s six appointed members approved a lengthy list of requests for Bally’s to make sustained investments in schools, infrastructure, environmental quality and community groups within Community Board 10, if the company is approved for a casino license and its planned $4 billion complex.
The requests were passed along to Bally’s, which must respond by Sept. 19. The company can send counterproposals, and no response will be considered a rejection of the committee’s asks.
With the requests, the CAC said it sought “confirmation and clarity on these items to ensure accountability and alignment with community priorities.”
Throughout the casino approval process, Bally’s has signaled willingness to invest heavily in the East Bronx and was widely praised — even by opponents of the project — for stepping in to buy Preston High School for $8.5 million last spring, saving the longstanding Throggs Neck Catholic school from permanent closure.
The project has also been criticized, mostly by local City Council Member Kristy Marmorato, as irresponsible development that will likely worsen crime, traffic congestion, and pollution in CB10, which includes Pelham Bay, Co-op City, City Island, Throggs Neck, Country Club, and parts of Westchester Square.
The Bronx Times contacted Marmorato and Bally’s for comment, but did not receive a response.
The brief Sept. 15 CAC meeting was not a vote on the project itself; however, such a vote is rapidly approaching.
By Sept. 30, the group must approve Bally’s proposal by a two-thirds majority in order for the company to remain in the running for a state casino license. The state is expected to award up to three New York City-area licenses by the end of 2025, and the competition among the eight final bidders remains fierce.
For the Sept. 15 meeting, five of the six CAC members attended in person and virtually: Chairperson Lisa Sorin, appointed by Borough President Vanessa Gibson; Alex Porco, appointed by Sen. Nathalia Fernandez; Matt McKay, appointed by Assembly Member Michael Benedetto; Paul Philps, appointed by Mayor Eric Adams; and Danielle Volpe, appointed by Council Member Kristy Marmorato, who stands mostly alone among her elected colleagues in strong opposition to the project.
Overall, the CAC asked Bally’s for a high level of transparency and involvement in the casino project, with preference given to residents and causes within Community Board 10 before the rest of the borough and city.
Some of the CAC’s requests to Bally’s included:
- Annually contributions of at least $17.5 million, or 1% of yearly gross gaming revenue (whichever is higher) to a Community Benefits Fund, starting from the date of licensure, not when the resort opens
- Establishing a Community Benefits Fund Board with 11 local members
- Hiring with first preference to CB10 residents, second to other Bronx residents and third to greater NYC residents
- Regularly communicating with CB10 leadership and providing public updates on traffic, park improvements, community fund investments and hiring
- Investing in CB10 parks, schools and organizations
- Working with the Department of Transportation to examine the resort’s impact on area schools, especially pickups and drop-offs
- Installing a green stormwater management system and performing studies on water quality and sensitive species
- Creating an NYPD substation within the casino-hotel building, with an annual commitment of at least $5 million to NYPD Overtime and/or Paid Detail programs and other operational needs to “supplement, not replace, existing NYPD resources”
- Establishing a Bally’s Bronx Conservancy or Trust within NYC Parks
The committee listed specific groups it wants Bally’s to fund, including Little League teams in Pelham Bay, Co-op City and Throggs Neck, BronxNet, Bronx Council on the Arts, JASA senior services, City Island Oyster Reef and the American Turners club, where the CAC’s contentious second public hearing was recently held.
Click here for more information on the CAC’s work. Members of the public can submit comments to the group via email at BallysNYPublicComment@nystec.com
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
