New York City
New pro-Brannan IE has ties to Coney Island casino proposal, former GOP candidate
The southern Brooklyn council member and comptroller candidate represents the site where Thor Equities wants to build the casino.
New York City Council Member Justin Brannan is running for comptroller. Gerardo Romo / NYC Council Media Unit
An independent expenditure committee filed Monday in support of Justin Brannan’s campaign for New York City comptroller is managed by a lobbyist working for a casino project in his current City Council district, state campaign finance records show.
The committee, New Yorkers for Accountability, is listed as being run by Patricia Lynch, who is one of several powerful lobbyists working on Thor Equities’ $3 billion casino bid on Coney Island, dubbed “The Coney.” Lynch could not immediately be reached for comment. Brannan’s campaign declined to comment.
With the project in Brannan’s district, the term-limited council member has influence over the bid. The City Council is set to take up a zoning amendment soon that would help clear the way for The Coney to become a reality. Due to the City Council practice of “member deference,” the measure is essentially in Brannan’s hands. Plus, if the state Gaming Commission were to award The Coney one of the three coveted downstate casino licenses up for grabs this year, and did so before the end of the year, Brannan would appoint one member to the community advisory committee tasked with approving the project.
Brannan had previously been a solid “no” on the casino proposal, but he recently told Politico New York that he wants to “let the process play out.” And that came after he earned the endorsement of the influential Hotel and Gaming Trades Council in his bid for comptroller. The union backed Brannan over his opponent, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, due to Levine’s decision not to support the Related Companies’ casino proposal at Hudson Yards, the Daily News reported.
Related and their partner on the project, Wynn Resorts, announced Monday they would be dropping their bid for a casino at Hudson Yards.
This is the first independent expenditure committee supporting Brannan. Until recently, Brannan had a “media” page on his campaign website with photos and talking points that could be used by independent spenders in ads. Brannan removed the page after he got a warning from the city Campaign Finance Board telling campaigns to stop “redboxing,” as the practice is known, because it counts as coordination with independent spenders, Politico reported.
Along with Lynch, records show the committee is also being run by Dmitriy Kugel, a former Republican Assembly candidate who challenged south Brooklyn Assembly Member William Colton in 2022.