Bally’s Bronx Casino Plan Scores Victory with Mayor’s Help
Posted on: June 11, 2025, 08:32h.
Last updated on: June 12, 2025, 10:13h.
- City Council votes to advance parkland alienation bill
- Legislation, essential to Bronx casino effort, now heads to Albany
In its quest to bring a casino hotel to the Bronx, Bally’s scored a much-needed victory Wednesday when the New York City Council, with some prodding from Mayor Eric Adams (D), voted in favor of parkland alienation legislation essential to the proposed gaming venue’s fate.
Typically, such measures require 34 votes to be passed, but because the mayor endorsed the bill in question, that number falls to 26. By a vote of 32 to 12 with seven abstentions, the council advanced a parkland declassification bill that if signed into law, would remove that designation from Bally’s Golf Links Ferry Point. Without it, the Bronx casino proposal likely dies.
Now, the bill moves to Albany where Bally’s is hoping for swift action because the deadline to submit applications for the three downstate casino permits is June 27. Without the parkland classification cleared up, Bally’s likely won’t be able to proceed with a bid and would wind up running a golf course, which isn’t one of its core corporate competencies.
Trump Ties May Have Been Headwind for Bronx Casino Plan
With little resistance, the council earlier voted in favor of similar parkland alienation for a Queens casino pitch steered by New York Mets owner Steve Cohen and Hard Rock International. State lawmakers signed off on the bill, significantly shortening the odds of success for the $8 billion Metropolitan Park project.
As The New York Post reported, the Bronx golf course’s ties to President Trump may have been a headwind for Bally’s while necessitating Adams’ involvement in the vote. In late 2023, the regional casino operator struck a deal with the president’s business group — run by his two eldest sons — to acquire the lease on Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point.
On top of what was reportedly a $60 million payment to the Trump Organization for the lease, Bally’s is on the hook for another $115 million bill if it wins one of the three gaming licenses. That’s likely not lost on the council, which is filled with Democrats, many of whom openly dislike the president.
Interestingly, Councilwoman Kristy Marmarato, a Bronx Republican who represents Ferry Point, was one of the “no” votes.
Concerns About Adams/Trump Relationship
Earlier this year, the Justice Department dropped corruption charges against Adams that were brought when President Biden was in office. While not a pardon, that move has stoked speculation in some New York political circles that the mayor owes the president a favor.
Conversely, the charges brought against Adams were levied after the mayor was openly critical of Biden’s immigration policy, which led to a massive influx of undocumented people to the largest US city, straining its resources in the process.
For the most part, New York’s highest-profile politicians, including Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), haven’t publicly spoken for or against the various downstate casino plans. That field of contenders is now at eight and would fall to seven if the aforementioned Bally’s-related bill doesn’t gain traction in the state capitol.
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