Fishtown: FNA Brings Artists and Community Together to ‘Feed the Fish’
The prominent Fishtown art scene has just taken a new role in engaging local residents and utilizing a green approach for a better community through the neighborhood’s very own mascot: a fish. Throughout Fishtown, people will start to see eccentric fish head topped trashcans popping up left and right on every street corner. These trash-gobbling […]
Casinos: SugarHouse Gives Back To Community
As part of the Community Benefits Agreement with SugarHouse Casino, the Penn Treaty Special Services District has received $500,000 per year from SugarHouse since opening in 2010. Once SugarHouse’s second phase is finished, presumably bringing in more revenue, the amount will jump up to $1 million per year. So what exactly does PTSSD do with […]
Casinos: Penn Treaty Special Services District
While the gaming license process is often presented as an us-versus-them scenario pitting the big bad casinos against potential neighbors who want no part of said casinos, the reality is much more nuanced than that. Casino-Free Philadelphia helped represent Fishtown in their fight against SugarHouse Casino, but they were by no means the only group […]
The Waterfront: Seven People Making A Difference
The waterfront along both the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers has seen an ecological and recreational resurgence over the last decade. What was once known as an urban or concrete jungle is slowly being transformed into an urban oasis for people to escape the crowded city of Philadelphia and enjoy the rivers’ edges. From simply belonging […]
Casinos: History of Gambling in Philadelphia
It may seem like it is taking a while for the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) to issue Philadelphia’s second gaming license, but the wait is nothing that the city has not been through before. The process for legalized gambling in Pennsylvania goes all the way back to the late seventies when Atlantic City opened […]
Casinos: SugarHouse to Expand as PA Slot Revenue Declines
In 2006, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board awarded SugarHouse Casino one of two gaming licenses for Philadelphia. SugarHouse, along with the now-defunct Foxwoods casino proposal in South Philadelphia, was set to become the first casino in the city. Originally, the casino was supposed to open along the Delaware River in 2008, but it faced backlash […]
Casinos: UNITE HERE Philadelphia Stands Up for SugarHouse Employees
While the still-undecided final location of Philadelphia’s second gaming license dominates the local casino conversation, all is not quiet at the renovating SugarHouse. Philly’s first casino is attracting some recent notice because of renewed efforts to unionize its rank-and-file employees with the support of UNITE HERE Philadelphia. Over the winter, the Atlantic City-based union organization, […]
Casinos: Cash To Communities But At What Cost?
With a second casino license up for grabs, communities near the proposed locations may wonder what they have to look forward to with a casino in their neighborhood. SugarHouse Casino donated $500,000 last year to the Penn Treaty Special Services District, which then allocated the money to various community organizations. “It’s pretty much a payoff,” […]
Casinos: Five People On The Front Lines
Given the size of most gaming operations, it’s often difficult to put a “face” to any particular organization (besides Donald Trump, and he’s largely famous for his other endeavors). Despite this, there’s still a fair number of important people – some within the industry, some who would like to destroy the industry and some who feel […]
Casino-Free Philadelphia Finds New Life With The Second Casino Proposal
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board will convene this week to discuss the five proposals in play for Philadelphia’s second and final casino license. A final decision is unlikely to come out of this meeting, but Board chairman William H. Ryan Jr. would like to determine the recipient within two months of the initial hearings that […]