Ramos continues to weigh Cohen’s casino pitch
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State Senator Jessica Ramos speaks with a group of attendees at her town hall to discuss Mets owner Steve Cohen’s plan to bring a casino to Citi Field. Eagle photo by Jacob Kaye
By Jacob Kaye
Western Queens was quite literally split over Mets owner Steve Cohen’s plan to bring a casino to Citi Field’s parking lot during a town hall on Monday night.
Gathered inside a gymnasium in Corona, supporters of the casino plan, dubbed “Metropolitan Park,” stood on one side of the room, while those opposed to it stood on the other. Each side took turns speaking – supporters explained the benefits they want to see and believe they will get out of the $8 billion project, while opponents described an alternative future, one where the 50-acres of parking spaces outside of the stadium are turned into a park, a hospital or housing.
Standing in the middle was State Senator Jessica Ramos, who holds enormous power over Cohen’s ability to build the casino and entertainment complex in the corner of Northwest Queens.
Though all talk of bringing a casino to Citi Field will be made moot if the state’s Gaming Commission doesn’t grant Cohen one of its three downstate casino licenses, should Cohen get the state’s go-ahead, Ramos will prove to be his next obstacle.
The lot Cohen wants to build the casino on is technically designated as parkland, and Ramos would have to introduce a bill in the legislature that specifically allows for the billionaire Mets owner’s plans to move forward on the land, which is owned by the city but is in the first decade of a 99-year lease to the Mets. Though her counterpart in the Assembly, Jeffrion Aubry, introduced such a bill – known as a parkland alienation bill – earlier in the year, Ramos said in May that her’s wouldn’t come until at least next year’s legislative session, if at all.
In the six months since, Ramos said she has been approached by countless constituents on the street or at events, all of whom were eager to tell her their thoughts on Cohen’s proposal. Also in that time, Cohen’s group, called New Green Willets, released a more general proposal for the lot, one that includes a hotel, 20 acres of new park space, a live music venue, a food hall and several parking garages in the immediate area surrounding the baseball stadium, in addition to the casino.
But Ramos’ public views – or lack thereof – on the project, remain the same.
“I have not made a decision as of yet,” Ramos told reporters at Monday’s town hall. “I'm continuing to take feedback from my neighbors…I want them to tell me what it is that they think.”
The proposed map for Metropolitan Park, a proposal that would bring a casino and entertainment complex to Citi Field’s parking lot. Map via Metropolitan Park
Monday’s town hall was the second Ramos has hosted on the plan.
The first, in May, looked slightly different. Much of what was discussed at the first town hall revolved around a hypothetical plan to bring a casino to Citi Field – though details had been laid out by Cohen’s team to elected officials and community leaders, including Ramos, not much had been shared with the public. Details remained scant following Metropolitan Park’s release of their preliminary proposal in early November, but it allowed attendees on Monday evening to discuss what it is they like or don’t like about the plan specifically.
Also in the first town hall, attendees were allowed to speak freely, lining up and telling Ramos how they felt one-by-one.
Monday night’s town hall began with remarks and ground rules from Ramos. The casino plan was here, she said, so either help figure out how to ensure its neighbors get the most benefit out of it or figure out a better alternative.
Attendees were asked to split into two groups. Those who support Cohen’s proposal were asked to go to one side of the room to discuss things they’d like to see included in a community benefits agreement, or a legally-binding contract that details the benefits a developer has promised to build or support alongside their project. Those in opposition were asked to go to the other side and discuss potential alternatives to the plan, and specifically discuss the possibility of a community land trust, or a nonprofit organization operated and owned by the community that would dictate use of the land.
Unlike the first town hall where around two-thirds of attendees said they didn’t want a casino, around two-thirds of the approximately 200 attendees at Monday’s town hall appeared to be in support of the plan. Those numbers were boosted by members of several labor unions who had come to the event to advocate that the casino and the surrounding entertainment complex be built with union labor, should it move forward.
Attendees at a town hall on Steve Cohen’s plan to bring a casino to Citi Field split between those in support (on the left) and those in opposition (on the right). Eagle photo by Jacob Kaye
Some of those who were opposed to the plan, a number of whom were associated with local environmental groups, anti-displacement groups and community groups, said they felt as though they were put at a disadvantage by the entire concept of the town hall.
“It just feels like a very uphill battle, having [Ramos] already framed it as, ‘Hey, all of you on the other side here, what can you do with the billions that we'll get from this?’ And then looking at us saying, ‘Hey, what can you propose to us as an alternative to this billionaire’s plan?’” said Tenzing Parama, who lives in neighboring Flushing. “It’s a bit disheartening.”
But some on Parama’s side of the room did come with a proposal they say would serve the community better than a casino – a park.
The FED UP Coalition, a group that formed in 2019 in opposition to the plan to rezone Downtown Flushing’s waterfront, presented what they’ve dubbed “Phoenix Meadows,” a proposal to turn the parking lots into parkland.
The group released the plan earlier this month but Ramos said she had yet to see the proposal.
“If it’s a good idea, then hopefully other neighbors may or may not agree – and this is the place for that discussion,” she said.
Around three dozen people protested Steve Cohen’s casino proposal outside of a town hall about the plan hosted by State Senator Jessica Ramos on Monday, Nov. 28, 2023. Eagle photo by Jacob Kaye
The mood was a little more upbeat on the other side of the room, where attendees were more hopeful their wishes for the future of the parking lot would come true.
“We’re not the ugly stepchild in Queens, we're the disavowed stepchild that's not acknowledged – so, let's take it from that point,” said Michael Devalera, a member of Queens Community Board 3. “But then when we're presented with an opportunity to create jobs, and to have a serious proposal where someone of means decides that he wants to actually get an opinion, have input [from the community] – when has that ever happened? And amongst people of color? That never happens.”
Devalera didn’t say exactly what it was he wanted to see worked into the community benefits agreement, but said that it was the prospect of the benefits that was most important.
“We’re supposed to give up this opportunity to partake in the great dream?” he said, speaking about those opposed to the plan. “Come on, stop. It's nonsense.”
According to Ramos, Cohen has already presented her with a proposed community benefits agreement, which includes some details presented alongside the proposed site map earlier this month.
Included in the agreement would be the developer’s commitment to making improvements to the 7 line station at Mets-Willets Point and to the Flushing Bay Promenade, according to the state senator.
But when asked what it was she liked or disliked about the proposal, Ramos said it didn’t matter.
“I want to hear from my community about what they want, not what the developer thinks they want,” she said.
A spokesperson for Metropolitan Park said in a statement that “Senator Ramos has been very clear that the community and its residents must come first and we agree – which is why we have held more than a dozen community workshops and hundreds of conversations with local leaders and neighbors.”
“We believe Metropolitan Park is exactly the kind of revolutionary proposal that Senator Ramos and other community leaders can support,” the spokesperson added.
Ramos said that she plans to next hold a town hall in the new year, although she declined to say exactly when.
Independent of Ramos’ decision, the state’s Gaming Commission isn’t expected to formally grant the three downstate casino licenses – Cohen is competing with around a dozen other developers vying for a license – for at least another year, maybe two.
“There's still plenty of time,” Ramos said.
