City wants a shot at revoked gaming license

Mayor Nutter's administration is still keen on a casino for East Market Street in Center City and opposed to the South Philly site that was eliminated when state regulators in December revoked a gaming license for the location.

The state House Gaming Oversight Committee came to Philadelphia yesterday to consider legislation that would put that license, revoked from the local investors behind the Foxwoods casino, up for bid anywhere in the state, including Philadelphia, but excluding Pittsburgh.

Alan Greenberger, Nutter's deputy mayor for planning and economic development, testified at the hearing that the city thinks the license should stay here.

Greenberger, who said the city does not have a list of locations where a casino could be built, also suggested that such a project could be used to "leverage" the development of a new hotel to serve the newly expanded Pennsylvania Convention Center.

Nutter has long opposed a South Philly casino, planned for Columbus Boulevard at Reed Street, because of traffic trouble and neighborhood opposition.

But the investors behind that casino incurred the wrath of Chinatown in 2008 and 2009 when they attempted, at Nutter's urging, to relocate the project to East Market Street.

The state Gaming Control Board, which in 2009 ordered the investors to focus on South Philly, revoked the license Dec. 16 because the project was stalled.

Greenberger, after testifying, said the Nutter administration had backed East Market Street for the Foxwoods casino in 2008 to spur more development there.

Greenberger acknowledged that talk of a casino anywhere near a neighborhood is "likely to always cause concerns."

Ellen Somekawa, executive director for Asian Americans United, was part of a coalition that protested when Nutter and his staff pushed for a Market Street casino. Nearby Chinatown has been suspicious, she said, that casino plans could make a return.

"It seems like a constant march in the wrong direction for Nutter on the issue," Somekawa said.

Paul Boni, a member of "Stop Predatory Gambling," told the legislators that they should consider changing the casino law to eliminate the Foxwoods license. Boni added that a casino on East Market Street, near busy commuter subway, train and bus stations, was a bad idea.

"I think a casino anywhere in Philadelphia or even in this state, close to people, is a nightmare," Boni said. "I think that's probably the worst nightmare."

The Foxwoods investors last month asked the state Commonwealth Court to overturn the Gaming Control Board's decision to revoke their license.

A Franklin & Marshall College/Daily News poll released Feb. 9 showed that 58 percent of city residents think one casino is enough for Philadelphia. The SugarHouse casino opened in Fishtown in September.