Chinatown, Foxwoods face off

Wearing anti-casino T-shirts and chanting, "No slots, no casino," about 400 Chinatown residents attacked the Foxwoods Casino project last night, with some protesters shouting, "Get out of town!"

The packed meeting at the Holy Redeemer Church and School was the first time Chinatown neighbors had met with Foxwoods executives since Foxwoods announced a plan to put its casino at the Gallery at Market East.

In one of the most emotional moments, Lai-Har Cheung, who grew up in Chinatown, shouted at lawmakers and Foxwoods executives that gambling would destroy families. Through tears and pleas, she said her relatives were gambling addicts.

"I'm scared," Cheung implored. "This is going to take more people down."

City Councilman Frank DiCicco told her, "My father took his life because he was a gambler. I understand."

Cheung said the revelation had stunned her. In light of it, she said, "I don't understand why he would allow this to happen."

DiCicco, however, told the crowd that by state law, Philadelphia was going to have two casinos one way or the other. "You either have it here or 10 blocks away," he said.

Chinatown residents asked many questions about the project - but left with few answers. Foxwoods still has not released a design plan or traffic study.

Greeted with boos, the chief executive of Foxwoods Casino, James Dougherty, said he was there "to listen."

What he heard was overwhelming objections.

Foxwoods announced a month ago that it would try to move its casino project from the Delaware River waterfront in South Philadelphia to the Gallery mall. The company was facing neighborhood resistance and persistent delays from the city.

DiCicco, whose district includes Chinatown and the South Philadelphia location, said the Gallery project was "not a done deal."

He added: "The only way they will not build here is if they decide it is not economically feasible."

DiCicco said he would introduce a bill in City Council next week to create a special entertainment district for the project - an important first step in zoning for a casino.

Despite loud objections from the crowd, he said he was taking that step because "I don't want anyone but us to make the decision for our community."

DiCicco was referring to consistent rulings by the state Supreme Court in favor of casinos. He said Council would hold a rare Saturday hearing on the Gallery casino at 10 a.m. Nov. 1

Casino protesters lined the school cafeteria and held signs with messages like, "Bad for our kids, bad for Chinatown." Some spoke in Cantonese.

Many were angry that a Foxwoods representative said at a business forum Wednesday at the Union League that the target for opening a casino at the Gallery was December 2009.

Brian Ford, the representative who works for Washington Philadelphia Investors, one of the Foxwoods partners, clarified that it was only a target date. "We're at the very beginning of considering all the issues involved with resiting," Ford said.

Before the meeting, teenagers from Chinatown used playground equipment at Holy Redeemer as a bully pulpit to speak out against the project.

Trang Nguyen, 17, a student at William W. Bodine High School for International Affairs, said she did not want to lose the Gallery as a place to hang out. "If it gets taken away from us, where are we going to chill?"