Join the
No Casino in the Heart of Our City Coalition
Citywide Coalition calls upon City and Civic Leaders to Stop the Predatory Casino Industry
More than 50 organizations citywide have joined the coalition. Find out more and please join us by contacting Helen Gym at 215.808.1400 or HGBF @ aol.com or by downloading:
- the outreach letter from Pastor Ellis Washington, President of the Black Clergy of Philadelphia & Vicinity, Ellen Somekawa, Executive Director of Asian Americans United, and Reverend Robin Hynicka, Pastor of the Arch Street United Methodist Church and
- the details and form to join to the Coaltion.
DONATE TO AAU!
Support AAU by donating online!
OR you can download this form, fill it out and mail it to AAU with your check.
Also, if you give to your workplace’s United Way Campaign, you can target your gift to AAU. AAU’s United Way Donor Choice #00400
Thank you for your support!
Casino Updates – Sign Up!
For updates on AAU’s work fighting the casinos in the heart of Philadelphia, please join our email list.
If you only want periodic updates about AAU events and news, please email us at aau @ aaunited.org. For more information about our email lists, please click here.
Photo: Dr. Joan May T. Cordova
Fundraiser for Summer Youth Leadership Program
You can help middle school kids learn leadership skills, take on community and environmental issues, and have a fun summer!
Please help us raise funds for AAU’s summer youth program! You can:
- Become a member of AAU
- Make a donation to AAU to support this important program
To get involved, call AAU at 215-925-1538 or email esomekawa @ mac.com.
Helen Gym named
Philadelphia Inquirer’s
“2007 Citizen of the Year”
Photo: Mike Levin, Philadelphia Inquirer
Congratulations to Helen Gym, honored by both the Philadelphia Inquirer as well as by the Philadelphia Education Fund. Named the “Inquirer’s 2007 Citizen of the Year,” a December 23rd editorial focused on Helen’s work with both Parents United for Public Education and highlighted her involvement in a number of Asian Americans United campaigns, including the 2001 stadium battle, the 2005 FACTS founding and the 2006 Justice for Jiang Zhen Xing Campaign. Described as an “inclusionary leader who has tirelessly fought to improve city schools,” the Inquirer quoted Helen: “If we are waiting for someone else to stand up and do what we know to be right, then we will wait forever… Schools are where we institutionalize our love for our children. And why not invest in love and give our children all they deserve?”
Helen was chosen from candidates in the tri-state region. You can read about her award here.
Ellen Somekawa honored
by the Bread & Roses Community Fund
Congratulations to Ellen Somekawa, honored by the Bread & Roses Community Fund as one of 30 local activists who’ve “broken new ground in building paths to social justice.” Involved in AAU since 1988 and Executive Director since 1996, Ellen’s work with AAU builds on previous years of activism in the anti-apartheid movement, the anti-nuclear movement, and the movement for indigenous land rights in the Black Hills. While active in the Asian American Student Alliance at the University of Pennsylvania, the group successfully fought to get Penn to change the offensive name of the “Oriental” Studies Department and to initiate its Asian American Studies program.
Thank You to Our Funders!
Thank you to the funders who generously support AAU’s work: Atwater Kent Foundation, Bread and Roses Community Fund, Douty Foundation, Samuel S. Fels Fund, Allen Hilles Fund, National Endowment for the Arts, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Philadelphia Cultural Fund, The Philadelphia Foundation: Henry Griffith and Anna Griffith Keasbey Fund and the William J. McCahan 3rd Fund in Memory of Thomas C. McCahan and Florence M. McCahan, Seybert Institution, Henrietta Tower Wurts Memorial.
Time to call it like it is:
Bringing slots to Philadelphia is not democracy – it’s a circus.
NO SLOTS SPOT
Grand Opening & Anti-Casino Circus
was held on Thursday, June 25 at lunchtime
Thanks to everyone who helped make this a very successful action!
Video by Michele Tranquilli
Check out other coverage of the event!
Media Mobilizing Project has photos of the event here.
Philadelphia Activist Groups Open Their Anti-Casino “Circus” Office – by Paul Kurtz, KYW1060
A Million Stories: The Circus Is Coming – Tom Dreisbach, Philadelphia City Paper
Casino Foes Lease Office, Hold Circus – Fox29
Philly Casino Protesters Hold Street Circus – NBC10

No Blank Check for Casinos – Support the campaign to stop predatory gambling
May 14, 2009
Show your support. Sign the letter.
Last week the No Casino in the Heart of Our City Coalition began a campaign targeting the City Council to make sure council regulates the industry to their full ability and prevent predatory practices.
Thanks to Media Mobilizing Project for creating this video.
There is a letter for the campaign now circulating that can be signed online. You can see the full letter and sign here. The demands are below.
Also, please help collect signed letters! You can:
- email the link for this page to others and/or
- download the letter and help others complete the letter by identifying their City Council representative (must be Philadelphia residents to sign). Refer to this online interactive map to find the right district. You can refer to our Fact Sheet and the 15 Things Your City Councilperson Could Do to Protect Philadelphians to assist you in making this appeal.
You can either send the letters directly to the appropriate City Council members or to the No Casino in the Heart of Our City Coalition, c/o Arch Street United Methodist Church, at 55 N Broad St, Phila. PA 19107. Please do this no later than June 14.
Thank you for participating!
The Faith Subcommittee of the
No Casino in the Heart of Our City Coalition
Thanks to Media Mobilizing Project for creating this video.
It is time for people of faith to mobilize as a community in opposition to the plan to put casinos in the heart of Center City where people work and live. There are two issues here:
- First is the issue of gambling in the heart of the city and its subsequent impact on residents and the city and likely consequences all of which City Council has refused to consider.
- The second is the process by which this has happened. It is an ill-considered plan being driven by Big Money and Greed and facilitated by apathy combined with a lack of courage and absence of righteous indignation. Our faith traditions are clear about what happens with this combination: the poor and disenfranchised will suffer. Because we serve a Higher Power we are called to stand up and advocate on their (and our) behalf.
We hope you will join us to help shift the public conversation toward “what is just?” And “what is moral?” We need your voice and your ideas. Please contact Robin Hynicka at robin @ archstreetumc.org to join the subcommittee and please help us spread the word.
Down through the ages people of faith have stood up for justice.
It is now our turn.
In the name of the One who calls us to love one another, we are
The Faith Subcommittee of the “No Casinos in the Heart of Philadelphia Coalition”
Rev Kevin Palmer, Black Clergy
Rev Robin Hynicka, Arch St United Methodist Church
Harry Leong, Chinese Christian Church and Center
Rev David Tatgenhorst, St Luke United Methodist Church
Rev Beverly Dale, Christian Association at the University of Penn
15 Things Your City Councilperson
Could Do to Protect Philadelphians
(They have the power. Why won’t they use it?)
Download our Fact Sheet and a copy of the 15 Things.
- Introduce and enact legislation that prohibits tax breaks, abatements or City subsidies of any kind for casinos.
- Introduce a bill to restrict the hours for serving food and alcohol within a CED (gambling zone). Requiring a 2 a.m. closing time on food and alcohol is a way to discourage all-night gambling, a notorious habit for problem gamblers.
- Call for the enactment of basic consumer protections against predatory gambling practices and don’t grant zoning for either casino until basic consumer protections are enacted. Consumer protections can and should include: a ban on free alcohol services, on-site lending prohibitions, mandatory casino closing times, and restricted zoning to limit the spread of negative spin-off businesses.
- Refuse to grant zoning for the casinos’ cheapened new plans. Force them to put together the financing for the expansive plans they pitched in order to get their licenses in the first place.
- Refuse to pass zoning for the Center City Foxwoods casino until Foxwoods has submitted a full plan for the public to review. Thus far they haven’t shown even a scrap of paper to deserve such privileged zoning rights.
- Commission a study to determine the accuracy of a state agency’s statement (Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, Staff Report on City’s Five Year Plan, July 26, 2007.) that the two casinos could cause as much as a $200 million increase in annual law enforcement costs.
- Demand that the City of Philadelphia contract for independent economic and social impact studies by experienced academic researchers prior to granting zoning for the casinos.
- Hold a public safety hearing and ask the Police Department as well as gambling and crime experts to testify about how much it would cost to police casinos in Philadelphia and whether location is a factor in the cost.
- Hold a public hearing about slots machine technology and invite experts from both sides. Specifically engineered slot machines aren’t based on luck. In fact, slots are often called the “crack cocaine” of the gambling industry because of their addictive features. People deserve to know the product they’re getting.
- Demand public disclosure of the casinos’ marketing plans targeting of people of color.
- Submit statements to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board opposing any future requests for license extensions by casinos seeking to come into Philadelphia.
- Introduce a City Council resolution denouncing predatory gambling practices and hold investigatory hearings on the predatory practices of casinos and appropriate governmental response.
- Work with state legislators, specifically Senator Larry Farnese and Representative Mike O’Brien, to enact state-level protections against predatory gambling in Philadelphia.
- Assert that Councilmanic prerogative does not apply in the case of bringing the predatory, new business of slots gambling to Philadelphia since it will impact all Philadelphians.
- Take a public stand, challenging those public officials who maintain that slots parlors will be good for Philadelphia.
Foxwoods Casino on Hold Again
In a bizarre turn of events, Foxwoods zoning is up in the air after PREIT turns out NOT to be the exclusive owner of the Strawbridge’s building and another owner shows up to oppose the project.
“The plan,” Cohen said, “is not in Gramercy’s ‘best interests or in the best interests of our tenants,’ and he urged Council to table the issue.”
- PlanPhilly offers more details. Foxwoods CED woes continue
– Kellie Patrick Gates, May 13, 2009 - Interested party surfaces to oppose Foxwoods plan
– Jennifer Lin, The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 8, 2009 - Zoning change for casino switch stymied by Council witness
– Dave Davies, Philadelphia Daily News, May 8, 2009
Process? What Process?
from DiCicco gives Foxwoods 8th and Market nod, By Kellie Patrick Gates, PlanPhilly, April 15, 2009:
Somekawa said she has seen no studies of economic or social impacts and no analysis on what having a casino will cost the city. “Now you are saying that not only will you allow Foxwoods to choose wherever it wants to put its slots parlor, but now you’re going to forgo City Council approval of the process,” she said.
Watch and read about the press conference that Mayor Nutter and Councilman DiCicco held on Foxwoods casino development on April 15th.
TAKING OUR MESSAGE TO HARRISBURG:
NO CASINOS IN PHILADELPHIA!

Listen to the comments made by members of the No Casino in the Heart of Our City Coalition:
- Lai Har Cheung, Member of Asian Americans United
- Helen Gym, Board Member of Asian Americans United
- Pastor Ellis Washington, President, Black Clergy of Philadelphia & Vicinity
- Reverend Robin Hynicka, Pastor, Arch Street United Methodist Church
- Other Clips
Thanks to Bryan Mercer and Desi Brunette from the Media Mobilizing Project for documenting the meeting.
The Philadelphia Inquirer
April 8, 2009
SugarHouse developers pledge they will get money they need to build
“Facing a chorus of jeers from anti-casino protestors, the developers of the SugarHouse Casino pledged today that they could borrow the money needed to build a project by early next year.” Read the full article
The Philadelphia Inquirer
April 9, 2009
At casino hearing, angry Phila. protests Read the full article
Mr. Mayor: Do your campaign promises mean so little to you?
As a candidate, Michael Nutter said that, “I do not support gambling as an economic development tool or as a way to fund ongoing government programs, no matter how worthy.”
Now as our Mayor, his tune has changed. In a press conference last week the Mayor proclaimed that, “We will move the city of Philadelphia as quickly as possible to get the two casinos up and running as soon as we can.”
For more, see: Casino-Free Philadelphia on Nutter’s Reversal
As our City tries to dig out of a deep hole in its budget, Philadelphians are being asked to deal with a rise in our taxes and a decline in our services. Some slots boosters are using this painful reality to argue that casinos will help us out of these hard times.
But we all know that creating more poverty and addiction among our residents is no kind of way to secure Philadelphia’s well-being.
Let the Mayor know that candidate Nutter had it right.
Write him at: Mayor Nutter’s Email
Or call him at: 215.686.2181
Thanks to everyone who made our
Stop the Gallery CasiNO! Fundraiser
a great success!
Tai Joselyn and Helen Gym entertain the crowd at AAU’s party | photo by Dr. Joan May T. Cordova
Casino Finds Foes In Philly’s Chinatown
on Day-to-Day on NPR, 3 March 2009
A casino planned for Philadelphia’s Chinatown has many opponents in the neighborhood. Critics say the gaming house will not only endanger Chinatown’s historical character – it will feed a compulsive gambling habit that hits Chinese-Americans especially hard.
NPR covers the fight from the press conference – but the link to listen to the story got miced up with the story about steroids in the Dominican Republic. So please click here and then click the “Listen Now” button to hear the story.
Philadelphia Chinatown casino project – interview with anti-casino activist Debbie Wei
by Calvin Ho
from The Swarthmore Migration Project
February 25, 2009
Read or listen to the interview.

Op Ed: City is a slots laughingstock
By HELEN GYM
IT’S HARD TO IMAGINE how answering a call to revitalize American cities could go wrong for Philadelphia, but somehow it happened. Read more… – PhiladelphiaDaily News, January 15, 2009
WHAT’S WRONG WITH A CASINO AT STRAWBRIDGE & CLOTHIER?
Consider these concerns:
- Because of its location atop a transit hub, next to neighborhoods and along a central business corridor, the 8th and Market site exposes the maximum number of Philadelphians to the worst and most addictive form of gambling – slots parlors, which overwhelmingly target the poor, elderly and other vulnerable populations.
- Philadelphia has failed to engage in any cost-benefit analysis of this location. National studies consistently document serious negative economic and social impacts, including bankruptcy, foreclosures, divorce, domestic violence, child abuse and suicide.
- The zoning process moved at an unprecedented pace with no studies, no planning, no cost-benefit analysis, no design, and despite significant opposition. In addition, this location showed marked difference in process from the waterfront locations (where neighborhoods had 16 months to review plans of development before zoning was introduced and foundations donated thousands of dollars for an alternative and broader planning process through PennPRAXIS) as well as other large-scale projects.
- In the past, the City has often claimed itself a passive victim of unjust state legislation. But with the City owning the Gallery location, the City has done a 180 on the gambling issue and become a direct financial partner with a casino operator, promoting gambling to its residents and transit riders and redesigning its central historical, business and residential corridor around a gambling anchor.
A Question of Place
by Debbie Wei
November 15, 2008
From AsianWeek: The Voice of Asian America
http://www.asianweek.com/2008/11/15/a-question-of-place/
Please read this article to find out why this issue is so important to us.
NO CASINO IN THE HEART OF OUR CITY
AAU says NO CASINO IN THE HEART OF OUR CITY! NO CASINO IN CHINATOWN!.
Sign the petition online!
Find out more about why casinos are bad for Philadelphia and get involved!
For more information, contact Helen at 215.808.1400, hgbf @ aol.com.
MEMBER MEETINGS 2008
Join us for our weekly AAU Meetings!
Thursdays at 6 pm
NEXT MEETING –
Thursday, July 9th, 2009 from 6 to 8:30 pm
at Folk Arts-Cultural Treasures Charter School
1023 Callowhill Street (north of Vine Street)
This is a members meeting where we’ll talk about the different areas that need our support, whether it’s our weekly after-school program for youth or weekend petitioning. We’ll also discuss updates to the NO CASINO campaign and other AAU business.
Food contribution: $3$5. If you’re planning to come, please contact Ellen at 215-925-1538 ahead of time. If you are new to AAU or want to become a member, please call or email us!
14th Annual Mid-Autumn Festival!
Saturday, September 26th, 2009
Photo: Dr. Joan May T. Cordova
We are organizing for this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival! If you’d like to join the committee or help out in some way, please contact Judy or Ellen at 215.925.1538 or aau @ aaunited.org.
NEWS
To download a pdf copy of our latest newsletter, please click here.
Paths to Leadership
In the summer of 2007, AAU organized a summer program titled Paths to Leadership for middle school youth from both FACTS and from other local schools. The youth participated in a variety of leadership development activities, learned about environmental and community issues, and developed a plan to implement a recycling program at the FACTS. Youth met with leaders at FACTS to present their plan to create a recycling program. The 2009 program will run from July 20th to August 14th.
Club AAU
In 2007, AAU created an after school club at FACTS designed for middle school youth. Students are challenged to learn about community and environmental issues as well as strengthen their leadership skills. Currently, Club AAU members are working on an educational recycling campaign in order to support the work of the youth from AAU’s summer Paths to Leadership program.
AAU Launches High School Youth Leadership Program
Following in the long tradition of our first summer program, AAU continues to work with high school students to provide leadership training and opportunities for them to mentor and tutor younger students. AAU provides training and support for high school students who volunteer as tutors and mentors in the FACTS aftercare program. FACTS after care is a homework help and enrichment program for 25 FACTS students who attend kindergarten through 6th grade (and that is run by AAU youth alumna, Anh Ha and two other FACTS staffers). AAU Executive Director Ellen Somekawa and Anh worked to design training sessions for high school students that were supportive and team building, helped them understand the needs of the FACTS students, and nurtured their potential for being positive role models and mentors to the FACTS students.
This youth leadership program has distinct cycles that correspond with FACTS marking periods. The high school tutors who participated in the first cycle were pleased by the positive impact they had on the FACTS program and its students; many are continuing on in the second cycle. Thanks to our dedicated, responsible and caring volunteers: Jessica Do, Kenneth Huang, Xin Lin, Dior Miller, Winnie Rao, Stephanie Tran, Ada Wu, Yan Zhang who successfully finished our first session. Another crew is now starting up for the second session.
We are still recruiting volunteers who are prepared to commit to a regular weekly schedule of volunteering and who are willing to come to training and evaluation meetings. Send us an email at esomekawa @ mac.com to find out when the next orientation and training session will be held.
Folk Arts Classes at FACTS
AAU partners with the Philadelphia Folklore Project and FACTS to offer children the opportunity to study kung fu and lion dancing with Shu Pui Cheung and Chinese dance with Shu Yuan Li. By creating opportunities for students to learn from elders and artists that live in their communities, our folk arts programs help bridge generations and build respect for diverse cultural traditions.
updated: 4 July 2009
