City Council narrowly bets on Bally’s home rule message, going against local member

The bid for a casino in the Bronx will live to fight another day. The New York City Council narrowly granted a local approval needed for the state Legislature to allow a casino to be built on parkland at Ferry Point in the Bronx, where the Bally’s Corp. is vying for a license.

But to do it, the City Council voted against the local member in the district, Council Member Kristy Marmorato, who sharply criticized the efforts of Bally’s in the process.

The vote of the full council, which landed 32 votes in favor, 12 votes against and seven abstentions, crossed party lines, with multiple progressive Democrats abstaining and one Republican voting in favor of it.

With just three full downstate casino licenses available to be awarded later this year, competition has been fierce – and even more competitive given the assumption that two existing downstate racinos have the best shot at two of those licenses. 

The vote of the full council came after New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ office stepped in at the last minute to help ease the hurdle that the home rule message needed to pass. A home rule vote typically needs a two-thirds majority to pass in full council, but a mayoral message in support lowers that threshold to a simple majority. The council exceeded that threshold by just six votes.

“This isn’t just a bad proposal. It’s been a disgraceful process,” Marmorato said during the vote, accusing Bally’s and its lobbyists of going around her to drum up support. Bally’s did not immediately comment in response.

The Bally’s casino also carries the quirk of benefitting President Donald Trump. Bally’s took over the golf course at Ferry Point from the Trump Organization in 2023. If the Bally’s casino proposal ultimately is awarded a license by the state Gaming Commission, the Trump Organization would get an extra $115 million from that deal.

A spokesperson for Mayor Adams, who has cozied up to Trump in recent months, denied that the mayoral message of support for the casino bid to proceed had anything to do with Trump’s potential to benefit. Asked if it was a factor, spokesperson William Fowler said, “none, whatsoever.”

Mayor Adams’ office said they granted Bally’s request for a message of support out of a desire to keep all casino bids in the city competitive. “Mayor Adams supports a fair process with as many competitive casino bids in New York City as possible, each of which would bring good-paying union jobs and an economic boost to the community,” Fowler said. “It does not matter which proposal is selected by the state so long as it’s in New York City. We would be supportive of more than one selection in New York City, but that requires more than one competitive proposal.” 

Even as the home rule resolution passed the committee earlier on Wednesday – in a 5-4 vote – it wasn’t clear heading into the afternoon’s stated meeting that the council would muster the necessary 26 votes in support. Among the committee members who voted in favor of the proposal was Council Member Inna Vernikov, one of Marmorato’s colleagues in the Republican caucus who nonetheless voted against Marmorato. Fellow Republican City Council Members Vickie Paladino and David Carr sided with Marmorato, voting against the home rule message.

At a press conference before the stated meeting on Wednesday, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams didn’t really address why the council was eschewing the tradition of member deference by voting against Marmorato, who opposes the casino, but said that the council has “always worked collaboratively with communities,” and that they did so in this case too.

Opposition to granting the home rule message in the council has been described by several council sources as a combination of factors, ranging from members who oppose casinos in general to reticence to go against the opinion of the local council member to community opposition. 

Politico New York also reported that a rival casino bid – one led by Steve Cohen near Citi Field in Queens – was active in lobbying members against Bally’s bid. (Metropolitan Park spokesperson Karl Rickett declined to comment when City & State asked about that story). 

A Bally’s license is not a sure thing with the council’s blessing of a home rule message Wednesday. But without it, the effort would be effectively dead. Without a home rule message, the state Legislature cannot pass what is known as a parkland alienation bill for the site, which would allow Bally’s to build on the Ferry’s Point parkland should it get the license. With the state legislative session wrapping up in the coming days, state lawmakers have a little more time – albeit, not much – to get something passed before the state Gaming Commission’s June 27 application deadline, by which point applicants will need to have all land use issues sorted. Unlike similar legislation for Mets owner Steve Cohen’s casino pitch next to Citi Field, there was no question which state lawmakers should carry the state bill to allow the casino on parkland. Bronx state Sen. Natalie Fernandez and Assembly Member Michael Benedetto both support the proposal. It’s therefore likely to pass in Albany.