Officials from Brooklyn Community Board 13’s Land Use Committee held a hearing last night and voted down a proposal to build a casino complex in the heart of Coney Island, including a hotel high-rise and convention center just steps from the historic Wonder Wheel. In their presentation to the board, representatives from the real estate developer Thor Equities detailed their plan to “demap” streets running around and through the proposed site, transforming Stillwell Avenue – which runs through the amusement park area towards the beach – into a pedestrian promenade running between the project’s hotel and casino hall complexes. Thor is also seeking air rights over the demapped streets.
Meetings have been held weekly concerning the project that Thor has dubbed “The Coney.” Last week’s gathering at the local Y was met with passionate locals, most of whom were voicing their opposition. This week’s meeting was held instead via video-conference, with over 170 participants attending virtually, many of whom displayed banners on their screens with the words “NO CASINO.”
Thor’s representatives put their best foot forward with a presentation that included appealing visual renderings of the finished project from a bird’s eye view and at street level, as well as commitments to “generate a community catalyst for economic development” and “provide permanent, year-round career opportunities.” Slides were also displayed showing Thor’s plan for traffic, stating that the developer will “continue to advocate for a Ferry service with local officials” and push for an express subway service.
The officials with Brooklyn Community Board 13 expressed doubts concerning Thor’s claims across the board. Board member Jeff Sanoff noted that the developer’s calculations concerning parking included lots that no longer exist or are otherwise not available, and that despite that, Thor estimated that 108% of parking spots will be needed at peak hours of operation for staff and patrons. For Sanoff, that would mean that “when you get home from work, you won’t be able to get a spot around here. Period. End of story.”
Others took issue with the developer characterizing their changes to public spaces as the only avenue for them. “We want trees, benches, and pedestrian spaces on our streets,” said CB13’s Angela Kravtchenko. “But we don’t need a casino developer for this, this is our public street. We can work with our city to improve while keeping them public and accessible. This isn’t beautification, it’s a bait and switch.”
Public comments were similarly unsparing, with one member of the community finding a particularly sinister purpose with the developer’s request to demap streets. “The developers are asking for demapping of streets so that they can buy air rights to build sky bridges to connect all the properties” said Charles Denson, director of the Coney Island History Project. “The purpose of the sky bridge is to make sure that no one leaves the casino once they enter it. They want to cut people of from all surrounding streets and attractions and keep them inside gambling until their money runs out.”
At the end of the meeting, the Land Use Committee voted Thor’s proposal down by a 7 to 2 margin, with one abstention. While the committee’s vote last night and the general Community Board vote next week will formalize Coney Islanders’ position concerning the project, the deciding vote on whether to allow “The Coney” to go forward will be made through a community advisory board made up of members selected by governor Kathy Hochul, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and City Council members from the area. A proposal must reach a two-thirds supermajority to advance.
Thor’s project is one of 11 different proposals for a casino in the metropolitan area, which must be submitted by June 27th before being voted on by the community advisory board. Approved plans would then be reviewed by the Gaming Facilities Location Board before final approval from the state’s Gambling Commission in December.
