After a string of community advisory committees killed all of the casino projects across Manhattan, Joseph Sitt’s Brooklyn proposal is on thin ice.
Three members of the community advisory committee for Thor Equities’ Coney Island project came out against the casino proposal, Crain’s reported. That’s enough opposition to kill the project when the CAC vote is held, which is scheduled for Sept. 29; the deadline for approvals by the CACs is the following day.
City Council member Justin Brannan, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and State Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton all oppose the project. Reynoso said the proposal “failed to prove itself as a public good.”
A spokesperson for Thor declined to comment.
The $3.4 billion casino, called the Coney, is proposed for a beachfront site and includes a 500-key hotel, 20 restaurants and a 25,000-square-foot entertainment venue. The developer secured necessary zoning approvals, but faces opposition from Luna Park; opponents fear the project would limit access to the amusement park area.
Several months ago, it seemed Thor did not have a Plan B for the site, at least not one it was willing to publicly acknowledge. Thor’s Peter McEneaney said Coney Island had “definitely fallen on hard times” and “the only way to correct that is a generational type project like this.”
Should the CAC reject the Coney Island casino, it would thin the ranks of contenders for a downstate gaming license.
In the last week, all three of the casino projects still on the table in Manhattan were excised, capped by the Soloviev Group’s defeat for its Freedom Plaza site on Monday morning.
Only four proposals remain outside of The Coney: Mets owner Steve Cohen’s project at Citi Field, Bally’s proposal in the Throgg’s Neck area of the Bronx, Genting’s proposed casino in Jamaica, Queens and a site in Yonkers from MGM. Should the latter two have an advantage by virtue of being “racinos,” the last license could come down to a one-on-one competition.
— Holden Walter-Warner
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