Tensions boiled over at a heated public hearing Tuesday on a proposed $3.4 billion casino in Coney Island, as residents and developers made their cases before a six-member community advisory committee.
Chanting and heckling filled the crowded Coney Island YMCA gym, where neighbors packed the room holding signs reading “Stop the Phoney” and “Yes to The Coney.”
“At the end of the day, you go home to your comfortable place. We stay here. This is our house. Leave it alone,” said Ann Valdez, a NYCHA resident in Coney Island.
Others voiced support.
“I love Atlantic City, but Coney Island is Brooklyn, and Brooklyn is my home. Why we can’t have a casino here?” said Barbara McFadden, resident leader of the NYCHA Sheepshead Bay Houses.
