Bally’s philanthropic foundation offered to buy the property of Preston High School in Throggs Neck for $8.5 million to prevent the school from permanently closing in June, but the Sisters of the Divine Compassion, who own the site, rejected the proposal, the Bronx Times has learned.
Despite support from local elected officials, the rejection means the all-girls Catholic school remains on track to close at the end of the school year.
The offer came from Bally’s Foundation North America, Inc., a Delaware-based nonprofit funded by Bally’s Corporation. A company spokesperson said the foundation operates independently with its own governing board and a mission to support mental, physical, economic, and social well-being in communities where Bally’s does business.
Bally’s is more widely recognized for its corporate arm, which runs gambling venues nationwide and is currently pursuing a bid to transform its namesake Ferry Point Park golf course into a 3.1-million-square-foot casino, hotel and entertainment complex. The project faces community opposition and requires state and local approvals, as well as a state gaming license, to move forward.
The Sisters had been looking to sell the property that houses the all-girls’ private Catholic school since around 2019, when they decided to give up landlord duties and sell their portfolio of properties. They hoped the school would be able to buy the site, and after a year and a half of negotiations only with Preston, the parties landed on a deal in December 2024.
But after the school could not pay its planned first installment, the Sisters announced Feb. 25 that the school will close, citing financial instability and declining enrollment over the past decade.
The news devastated loyal families, alumni and community members who did not believe the Sisters’ contention that the school was failing financially and have since pressured the nuns to reconsider.
The Sisters and Preston Principal Jennifer Connolly did not respond to Bronx Times’ request for comment.
The deal that wasn’t
When Bally’s chairperson Soo Kim learned last month of the impending closure, he immediately reached out on behalf of the foundation and expressed eagerness to buy the property, he said in an interview with the Bronx Times.
To Kim, saving Preston was an opportunity for his company to show that they could “be good neighbors” as they bid for the casino resort project.
“We were doing a community good,” he said.
After communicating with the nuns’ attorney, the foundation agreed to pay the Sisters $8.5 million —the same amount as Preston would have bought for — plus $1.5 million for a new roof and boilers, the spokesperson said.
The foundation also agreed to a 25-year lease to Preston for $1 per year, with the option for the school to buy it in the future.
Bally’s sought no control of Preston in terms of naming rights, branding, board of trustees positions or any other aspect of school identity and operations, the spokesperson said. While the Bally’s Foundation has previously donated to educational institutions, the donation to a school with the sole purpose of keeping it open would’ve been a first for the organization.
All parties agreed to terms on March 4 and drew up a contract. “We thought we got this deal done,” said Kim.
But for reasons unknown to him, the Sisters backed out.
“We met their ask,” Kim said. “We don’t know why the nuns changed their minds.”
The spokesperson said that “when pressed for reasoning,” the Sisters’ attorney, Dan Berman, cited “doubts about the school’s long-term viability.”
‘Hoping for a miracle’
Meanwhile, the Preston Board of Trustees, with three of its six members being Sisters, issued a statement on March 13 confirming that the closure decision was final.
“While we commend everyone who has taken action to keep Preston open, we must reiterate that the decision to close the school is final. We will not be entertaining any circumstances that would alter this fact. … We do not want to foster false hope that any ongoing attempts will reverse the closing of the school,” the board said.
Elected officials, including Council Member and Majority Leader Amanda Farías, a 2007 Preston graduate, have explored several funding options to keep the school open. When they saw the Bally’s purchase offer, they supported it.
The Bally’s offer came from “a good faith foundation willing to put up the cash to allow the school the time the Sisters would not afford them to come up with their financing to purchase independently,” Farías said in a statement to the Bronx Times.
Assembly Member Michael Benedetto, who represents Throggs Neck, was also disappointed to see the Bally’s offer fall through.
He told the Bronx Times that he’d been “hoping for a miracle” to prevent Preston’s closure, and when he got the call from Bally’s, it seemed like his wish had come true.
“Bally’s had always said to us that they would be good community members” if the [casino] project went through, said Benedetto. By trying to save Preston, “They were willing to put their own cash behind their words.”
Benedetto, Farías and State Senator Nathalia Fernandez all communicated with Bally’s about the potential deal and strongly supported it. The sale seemed to be “95% sure” — until it wasn’t, Benedetto said.
“We’re just speechless,” he said. “We’re all dismayed, disappointed and frustrated that all our work has gone to naught.”
Fernandez told the Bronx Times that she first identified Bally’s as a potential buyer, and she also doesn’t understand why the Sisters backed out. She said they showed no immediate opposition to the gambling corporation or any other factor. “Everyone seemed okay with it.”
Word of the failed Bally’s deal has begun to spread to the school community. Frank Toapha, parent of a current Preston sophomore and incoming freshman, told the Bronx Times he was aware of the offer and doesn’t understand why it is off the table.
Since the Sisters wanted to end their responsibilities as landlords, “Why not, if someone’s offering money, just take your money and go?” he said.
Toapha said he was disappointed to receive the letter stating that no further options will be considered. The family has reluctantly begun to think about other school options, but ultimately, he desperately wanted both of his girls to continue their education at Preston, where the older daughter has blossomed, according to Toapha. “It opened up her horizons, and it seems like it’s being taken away.”
Uncertain future
Even though the deal didn’t work out, Benedetto said that Bally’s effort to buy Preston “spoke volumes” about its commitment to the Bronx community amid the casino bid.
He said he is still weighing many factors surrounding the project, including its impact on local jobs, crime and traffic, but Bally’s attempt to save Preston “does influence me a little bit,” he said.
With the deal now off the table, the lawmakers have talked with Attorney General Letitia James, “asking her to look into the matter and whether it has been conducted on the up and up,” said Benedetto. The attorney general’s office regulates New York nonprofits, including sales of their properties.
The three lawmakers are concerned about the small size of the Preston Board of Trustees and the lack of outside representation among its members, Benedetto said. As the Bronx Times previously reported, in 2021, the board had 13 members, including five alums. Now, it has only six members, three of whom are nuns with the Sisters of the Divine Compassion, and no alumni representative other than the principal.
For those who know how close the Sisters came to keeping Preston open, the frustration remains.
With the closure final, it appears that “no amount of money that’s being offered” will make them change their mind, said Toapha. “Is Bally’s the problem, or is it just them?”
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
