Developers say proposed Coney Island casino would bring 4,000 new jobs to the People’s Playground
As they workshop their proposal to open a new casino in Coney Island, Thor Equities, the team of developers behind the bid, have announced they believe the new gaming facility would bring roughly 4,000 union jobs to the neighborhood.
According to Robert Cornegy, one of the partners on the pro-casino task force, the jobs would be within the hospitality, hotel and gaming realm, offering locals who have been detached from the ability to earn a decent wage year-round a chance to work 12 months out of the year in a “lucrative” industry.
“Being able to bring decent paying, year-round jobs is something that I feel like I am compelled to push and demand,” Cornegy told Brooklyn Paper. “For people of color, black people in particular, labor has created a pathway to the middle class in a lot of different industries. The hotel trade is one of the more lucrative opportunities.”
He said people tend to look down on these jobs even though they can offer wages up to $30 an hour and enticing benefits, and lead people toward upward mobility.
“We could potentially miss an opportunity to open up the hospitality industry for a borough that has its own brand,” he said. “The ability to match that brand with opportunities in the hotel and hospitality industry is something that we can’t look away from or we shouldn’t look away from.”
A spokesperson with the bidding team said there is going to be local preference in recruitment, and job training. The team also plans to host job fairs and work to create other pipelines to ensure jobs go to locals.
According to reports from the New York State Department of Labor, Kings County has an unemployment rate of 5.6% as of April 2023, lagging behind New York City’s unemployment rate of 5.3%.
Coney Island specifically falls behind in terms of income.. In 2018, the area held a poverty rate of 24%, compared to the city-wide rate of 20%. City data shows that just over 7% of working-age CB13 residents work in hospitality or the arts, with a median wage of $22,344 per year.
The area’s proximity to the city as well as the seasonal nature of the neighborhood can feed into a lack of job opportunities, according to Cornegy.
“I think it’s important to note how far, even when we talk about the disparities in the city, those disparity numbers are always increased in a place like Coney Island,” he said.
The pro-casino team is still in preliminary proposal stages. They are currently finishing their Request for Application and waiting on the state to announce a submission date. In the meantime, Cornegy said they are working to go beyond RFA requirements and still meet the demands of the neighborhood.
“This project looks to be one of the largest job creators in southern Brooklyn,” he said.