Bally’s Eyes Casino in New York next to Trump Golf Course in the Bronx

Gaming giant Bally’s is betting on the Bronx by offering a casino next to the public Trump Organization golf course at Ferry Point, The Post has learned.

Sources familiar with the corporation’s plan said officials are in talks with the Trump organization to turn 17 of Bally’s 300 acres into casino land.

The property is owned by the city, and the real estate company — former President Donald Trump’s business empire now run by his two sons, Donald Jr. and Eric Trump — has a 20-year contract with the Parks Department to use it as a golf course. well.

Bally’s plan will require just 10 acres for the casino, with the remaining seven set aside for green space or other uses such as workers’ housing, sources said.

In the long term, Bally’s would like to take over the entire property, which was once a landfill, from Trump Org, sources familiar with the casino company’s mindset said.

The project could create more than 15,000 construction jobs and more than 3,500 permanent high-paying unions with salaries starting at $70,000 plus benefits and pensions, according to people familiar with the project.

Bally’s confirmed its grand plan to build a casino near Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point in a statement to The Post on Sunday.

“We are incredibly excited about bringing Bally’s community-centric approach to gaming and entertainment to the Bronx. At Bally’s, we start with the assumption that leaders in the community know what’s best for their community,” the spokesperson said.

“With this guiding principle in mind, we are constantly conducting a series of conversations with local elected officials, community groups and key community leaders to hear directly from them what they would like to see from a potential new project,” the statement said. said. “Our vision, which includes transforming a former landfill and high-end golf course into a world-class entertainment center, with a focus on workforce housing and new and improved community green spaces at the heart of the project.”

Bally’s promised that small businesses and Bronx residents will be able to “share the economic prosperity and access to amenities” provided by the casino “for generations to come.”

“We are very grateful for the opportunity to write the next chapter of Bally’s storied history in the Bronx,” the spokesperson said.

The Trump Organization, which previously ran the casino in Atlantic City, did not immediately comment.

The State Board of Placement will shortly accept proposals to consider issuing up to three casino licenses in the downstate.

Bally’s is the only gaming company that invests its chips in casinos in the Bronx.

Owners of existing arcades at Ozone Park’s Aqueduct Racecourse, Genting/Resorts World and Empire City MGM’s Queens and Yonkers Racecourse are expected to apply to expand their offerings to include table games.

Meanwhile, Mets owner Steve Cohen is eyeing a casino near Citi Field in Willets Point, Queens. A 25,000-seat professional football stadium is also planned nearby.

Other planning bids to operate the casino include a partnership of companies associated with Steve Ross/Wynn Resorts for Hudson Yards, the Times Square landlord team SL Green/Caesars Entertainment, and a consortium promoting a Coney Island gaming establishment whose partners include Legends, co-owned is the Yankees organization.

Bronx Councilwoman Marjorie Velasquez, whose neighborhood includes Trump’s Ferry Point Golf Course, said she’s optimistic about opening a casino there.

“It’s really great for the Bronx,” Velasquez said Sunday.

She foresees good unions paying casino jobs, with the side effect of growing family and pop businesses nearby.

Velasquez said Trump’s golf course is too expensive and most of her voters can’t afford to keep clubs there.

“This is an opportunity to rethink what is possible on the court. I’m very proud to have the Bronx in the conversation.”

Bally’s has New York roots. Its chairman, Soo Kim, grew up in Queens and the firm holds one of the New York sports betting licenses.

He brings on board several powerful people from the Bronx with political connections to prove his point. Stanley Schlein, a lawyer with close ties to the Bronx Democratic Party and Assembly Speaker Carl Histie (D-Bronx), has just registered as a lobbyist for Bally’s.

Fabien Levy, a spokesman for Mayor Eric Adams, said: “We are not going to comment on a proposal that has not yet been submitted and on which we are not making a decision,” noting that the state would issue an order. casino licenses.

City Council members have been pressuring the Adams administration to snatch the Ferry Point golf course from Trump Org, which is set to expire in April 2032. The company was heavily criticized for agreeing to host a Saudi-funded women’s golf tournament at Ferry Point.

Former Mayor Bill de Blasio announced in January 2021 that he was terminating the city’s contract with the Trump organization to operate the golf course, saying he had the authority to do so due to Trump’s “criminal” role in the January 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol riots . .

But last April, a Manhattan Supreme Court judge ruled that the city had wrongfully terminated the 20-year contract.