City Council has given a Bronx cheer to a proposed Bally’s casino, for now.
The Council, headed by Speaker and mayoral candidate Adrienne Adams, refused Wednesday to allow a vote to advance legislation that would allow gaming operator Bally’s to convert part of the former President Trump Golf Course property into a casino.
Bally’s acquired the golf course at Ferry Point from the Trump Organization in 2023, and it’s now called Bally’s Golf Links at Ferry Point.
As part of the deal, Bally’s agreed to provide the Trump Organization an additional $115 million — if it wins a casino license.
Bally’s Chairman Soo Kim complained that a “whisper campaign” by lobbyists from rival bidders is trying to whip up anti-Trump sentiment among lawmakers to scuttle his casino bid.
“They’re saying, ‘If Bally’s wins, Trump benefits.’ That’s crazy,” Kim told The Post.
He said the Bronx and the whole city will benefit, noting the Bally’s proposal has laid out more than $600 million in community benefits as well as jobs and millions of dollars in economic activity and tax revenues.
Bally’s hopes to build a 500,000-square-foot casino on the Bronx site by its golf course, along with a 500-room hotel with a spa and meeting space, retail shops, a 2,000-seat event center and two parking garages with capacity for up to 4,660 vehicles.
Kim also ripped the Council for “moving the goalposts” by not voting on the matter Wednesday.
“If we don’t get a vote in the City Council, we can’t advance our bid.”
The Bronx and the entire city, Kim said, would be losers.
But Council sources, who requested anonymity, shot back that Bally’s has been slow-footed in lobbying members to woo support for their project and lacks the necessary votes at this time to bring the measure to a vote.
Time is of the essence.
Bally’s needs the state legislature to approve a bill to repurpose the parkland property for use as a casino.
But first, the City Council must give the OK for Albany to proceed via a “home rule” message.
The bids to apply for one of three state casino licenses are due June 27.
The state legislature’s 2025 session in Albany ends in mid-June, and the Council is expected to meet once more on June 11.
The Council provided such a “home rule” approval for the legislature to approve a law allowing Mets billionaire owner Steve Cohen to repurpose lots around Citi Field to advance his casino bid in partnership with Hard Rock.
The state Senate and Assembly recently approved the land use bill for Cohen.
Council sources said while some members have raised concerns about Trump benefiting from a Bally’s casino license, it is not the overriding factor in discussions regarding the legislation.
A rep for Council Speaker Adams and the Council leadership said the Bally’s proposal is still being considered, and there’s no concerted plot to kill it.
“We’re still working on home rule messages for state legislation. The process hasn’t been completed for this legislative session,” said Council spokesman Mandela Jones.
Brooklyn Councilman Lincoln Restler, who chairs the governmental operations committee that oversees state legislation, said Bally’s will get “another bite at the apple” to get the proposal passed in the coming weeks.
Bronx Republican Councilwoman Kristy Marmorato, who represents the neighborhoods around Ferry Point, is opposed to the project, sources said.
She declined to comment.
But Democrats in the Bronx delegation want to roll the dice and are working to muster the vote to pass the Bally’s proposals, a Bronx source said.
Another Council source claimed Bally’s doesn’t yet have the support to pass the home rule bill.
“We don’t put bills on the floor without the votes,” the insider said.
State Sen. Nathalia Fernandez (D-Bronx), who is pushing the Bally’s legislation in Albany if she gets the go-ahead from the City Council, said the gaming company’s agreement to pay the Trump Organization extra for a casino license was the price paid “to get him [Trump] out of The Bronx.”
“So while I hate it, I don’t want him to get anything on it, it was part of the business deal just to get his name out of the situation, get him out of the golf course and out of the Bronx,” Fernandez said.
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