Philadelphians Up the Ante

Plan to Protest Construction At Site of SugarHouse’s Future Bankruptcy

Media Advisory

When: Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 6 AM

Where: Proposed SugarHouse site, intersection of Delaware and Frankford Aves

Even with the writing on the wall — in stark relief — about the casino industry's downward slide, financial institutions and city officials ignore it. During the early morning of Sept. 29, a fully trained team from Casino-Free Philadelphia and its supporters will demand a halt to the ground-breaking of the SugarHouse site on the Delaware waterfront which has now been postponed to within the next two weeks. The action's message will be simple: "We are ready to bankrupt Sugarhouse and its predatory accomplices before they bankrupt us."

The action will be part of Casino-Free's newest In the Red campaign, which aims to persuade developers to abandon their plans for predatory gambling in Philadelphia. The campaign will show that the casinos, if not stopped, will inflict financial damage on families, communities, local businesses, and our city budget. And with recent reports of market saturation and dwindling casino revenues in several U.S. states, the banks who have committed to the SugarHouse loan package, including PNC Bank, stand to face a devastating wake-up call in the coming years.

Last week, Casino-Free Philadelphia supporters protested outside the Philadelphia headquarters of PNC Bank that is providing Neil Bluhm's casino with a ten million dollar loan. The terms of the full loan package have been sealed due to fears of ongoing protests against lending institutions making risky loans to junk bond projects like Sugarhouse casino.

On Sept. 29, concerned citizens will communicate to SugarHouse developer Neil Bluhm, his funders and lenders that a unified alliance is committed to stopping casinos in Philadelphia and to shutting down any that open. Ron Rubin and his partners will receive the same message if they move forward with Foxwoods anywhere in Philadelphia.

Campaign organizers have formed two groups for the action. One will stage a direct, non-violent demonstration; another will show solidarity. The action is the result of extended preparation and planning.

Lily Cavanagh, organizer and Casino-Free member, stated, "We've requested an objective, independent study of the economic costs of these proposed casinos, and received nothing. We had a public process to develop our vision for the waterfront, which was ignored. When voters were disenfranchised in 2007, we gave citizens a free and fair election and their votes demonstrated overwhelmingly that casinos are not welcome in neighborhoods. Through people power we can achieve the outcomes that elected officials have let slip away."

Casino-Free Philadelphia's mission is to stop casinos from coming to Philadelphia and close any that open. The benefits of casinos can never outweigh the social and economic costs from an industry reliant on addiction to survive. Visit us online at www.CasinoFreePhila.org.

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