We support (Ciarrocchi) but we don’t want to see that business here. And when they leave, they’re going to be looking in cars and breaking windows for change. “It brings in people who are betting this month’s rent or next month’s mortgage. “It doesn’t bring in the millionaire smoking the cigar and kicking back,” said resident Greg Gentile.
The Packer Park Civic Association, area businesses and local residents disagreed and expressed concerns about the clientele that off-track betting would bring to a residential neighborhood. The people who watch sports are the people who bet sports. Whether they are betting on their phone, or in person, it makes for a great experience. “It just came out about two years ago and it’s legal, and people are using it all the time. “It’s a legal thing now,” Ciarrocchi said. Representatives from both Parx Casino and Chickie’s & Pete’s made comments online, stating that the new sports book wouldn’t change operations much at the popular restaurant.
The Zoom conference was attended by more than 100 people online in addition to a small group of civic members who broadcast the meeting from the Philadium bar on Packer Avenue in the midst of the snowstorm.
