Golf and gambling have never been high on New York City’s long list of attractions.
Now those two pursuits are destined to draw visitors to the same Big Apple property.
On Monday, the New York Gaming Commission awarded a gaming license to Bally’s to build a casino-hotel in Ferry Point Park in the Bronx, a city-owned site that is home to a Jack Nicklaus-designed links-style course formerly operated by President Donald Trump’s company. (The commission also approved two other casino-project proposals, both in Queens: Metropolitan Park next to Citi Field and further development of Resorts World in South Ozone Park.)
The Bally’s development will be of particular interest to golfers given the now-approved $4 billion gaming and hospitality complex will loom over the southern end of the course. Plans call for a casino, 23-story hotel with 500 rooms, convention and event center, and retail space.
“At the junction of the structure’s three wings is a curvilinear sky bridge topped with an expansive landscaped terrace, and additional green roofs are shown covering the rest of the stepped setbacks,” New York YIMBY reported in July. “Winding walkways and a redesigned vehicular entrance on the northern end of the property are also visible.”
Ferry Point, which sits in the shadows of the Whitestone Bridge, is known for its New York City skyline views and rolling, fescue-lined fairways that you’d sooner expect to find in Bandon than the Bronx. In 2022, the property was the site of the Aramco Team Series, a Saudi-funded Ladies European Tour event, which was won by Lexi Thompson.
The course was first green-lighted in 2000 by then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, with the goal of opening in 2003. But environmental setbacks and a ballooning budget hampered development. After years of mismanagement, the city, in 2012, awarded a 20-year operating license to the Trump Organization. The course opened three years later.
In 2021, in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection, Trump’s connection to Ferry Point became a flash point for many New Yorkers, leading then-Mayor Bill DeBlasio to terminate the Trump Organization’s contract — a decision a judge overruled, returning the contract to Trump. In September 2023, Bally’s paid the Trump Organization $60 million to take over the license to the site, a deal that extends through 2035. By January 2024, the property had been renamed the Bally’s Golf Links at Ferry Point.
“This is another step in making the Bronx become a global destination,” Deputy Borough President Janet Peguero said at the time.
The casino-license approval unlocks another payout for the Trump Organization. According the New York Times, the original purchase agreement between Bally’s and the Trump Organization stated that if a gaming license were to be approved after the sale date, Bally’s would have to pay Trump’s company an additional $115 million.
“When they first proposed [the agreement], I was like, ‘What the hell?’” Bally’s chairman Soo Kim told the Times. “They’re already getting a lot of money for a golf course. What do they think it’s worth? But they know what it’s worth to me and to us and to the Bronx.”