Casino Free Philadelphia

Despite years of strong public opposition, SugarHouse Casino opened it's doors on September 23, 2010. To many Philadelphians who understand the nature of predatory gambling, SugarHouse's arrival foretells a rise in unemployment, addiction, broken families and unstable communities.

Yet those who have been organizing around this issue are not giving up. In this piece, Lai Har Cheung, Reverend Jesse Brown, and Francesca Lo Basso talk about what SugarHouse will mean for Philly and why they are even more determined in their fight against casinos in Philadelphia.

"You've provided a venue for the glorification of this predatory enterprise and I think you have abandoned your responsibility to the people of Pennsylvania and the people of Philadelphia," Andrea Price testified in front of the PA Gaming Control Board.

Fourteen Philadelphia residents were acquitted today of charges against them for protesting the construction of the sugar house casino on Delaware River.

On Feb. 16, fourteen of your neighbors go on trial for a casino-free Philly. 

These fourteen individuals -- ranging in age from 24 to 72 and including several grandparents and two members of the clergy, public school teachers, and life-long Philadelphians -- lined the entrance to the SugarHouse casino site on the Delaware river and refused to move. They were promptly arrested and held for more than 12 hours. 

Now, they need your help.

Neighbors and organizations fighting plans to develop two casinos in Philadelphia delivered foreclosure signs to State Senator Shirley M. Kitchen on Nov, 12th. Senator Kitchen is co-sponsoring a piece of legislation currently going through the State house that would allow the granting of credit and loans by casinos on the gaming floors.

Last Tuesday 14 Philadelphia community members were arrested in a blockade of the Sugar House site in the early morning. Watch here for video from the protest.

Read below for a full statement from the organizers. Read here for a report back from one of the arrested community members.

Hey guys. A number of folks have asked me to write about my experiences in jail yesterday with the other activists from Casino Free Philadelphia. Most questions have been focused on the "what was it like" track – how did they treat us, where were we locked up. That stuff was interesting and hard and frustrating, but let’s get through it quickly. A short while after 6am Tuesday morning, fourteen protesters, including me, blocked the entrance to the Sugarhouse Casino construction site (or, as Casino Free Philadelphia likes to call it, the site of Neil Bluhm, the casino’s financier’s, future bankruptcy).

Casino Free Philadelphia takes action this Tuesday at Sugar House as it launches the "In The Red" campaign to get casino investors to drop plans for Philadelphia slots.

Last week marks a victory in the campaign to stop casinos in Philadelphia as the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board heard the case of Foxwoods trying to keep their license to open up slots in Philadelphia.

This Friday the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board will vote whether or not to extend the license needed for Foxwoods casinos to open one of the two proposed slots parlors in city limits.  Members of Asian Americans United, Casino Free Philadelphia and other in the No Casino in the Heart of Our City Coalition will head to Harrisburg to de