To the Editor:
How sad: Tom Ferrick, paragon of "civic journalism," guardian of Great
Expectations, parroting discredited casino PR in his apologia for
Waterfront slots casinos (Sun. Dec. 16).
Ferrick mocks casino critics as "nuts" and "crazy.” But one has to
wonder where Ferrick's own head is when he claims gambling – legalized
in the middle of the night, without hearings, via a 145-page amendment
to a 33-line horse racing bill – came to Pennsylvania in an open,
democratic fashion. Or when he ignores the PA Intergovernmental
Cooperation Authority's warning that casinos could cost Philadelphia
$200 million a year. Or when he ignores the fact that there’s no
traffic study accounting for two casinos on the waterfront.
Most of all, one wonders what rock Ferrick’s been hiding under for the
last year, when 26 civic associations, serving 250,000 Philadelphians,
joined with elected officials not to vilify or stop casinos, but to
move them away from our homes, schools, and houses of worship.
The experts and scholars agree: casinos’ negative impacts intensify –
and cost cities more – the closer they are to communities. No one has
ever contemplated putting casinos this large so close to neighborhoods
this dense. It’s an experiment, and Ferrick should be grateful our
city’s taxpayers refuse to be guinea pigs so the Sprague, Rubin, and
Snider family foundations can get rich.
In Northern Liberties, we’ve welcomed $2 billion worth of Delaware
Ave. development; we need Sugar House like a hole in the head. In
South Philly, the port industry is set to create tens of thousands of
new jobs – the kind of industrial boom Ferrick claims can’t happen
here. All we have to do is make sure we don’t do anything stupid –
like putting a casino in the proposed Foxwoods location where it would
jam truck routes connecting the port to the region.
This fight isn't about the evils of gambling. It's about land use,
smart development, and democracy - three things Ferrick suddenly seems
to have become unqualified to discuss. Get with it, Tom: stop calling
us names and help us relocate these casinos.
Matt Ruben
Northern Liberties