Borough prez gives stamp of approval to Cohen’s casino plan
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Queens Borough President Donovan Richards recommended supporting Mets owner Steve Cohen’s plan to bring a casino to Queens this week as part of the city’s land use review process. eagle file photo by ryan schwach
By Jacob Kaye
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards gave Mets owner Steve Cohen’s plan to bring a casino to Citi Field’s parking lot his stamp of approval on Monday, bringing Cohen one step closer to having the $8 billion plan approved at the city level.
Richards, whose support of the casino and entertainment complex known as Metropolitan Park was widely expected, said his approval of the project was not necessarily rooted in the potential economic boost its backers say it will bring to Queens, but instead in the community benefits Cohen has promised to the borough.
“Many recent studies have cited mixed economic outcomes when casinos are built, often not translating to long-term success,” the borough president said in his recommendation. “However, the applicant team has done a commendable job of creating a plan that would enrich local constituents’ lives.”
“As borough president, I will work tirelessly to see that these commitments come to fruition and ensure the applicant team will deliver on every element of their promises to the surrounding community,” he added.
Richards claimed the elements of the Metropolitan Park proposal that led him to his support for the project included the developer’s promises to build 25-acres of park areas, a community facility space, a new subway station at Mets-Willets Point, a local food hall and a $163 million community fund.
“[W]ith the support of Queens Borough President Richards the project moves one step closer to turning parking lots into 25 acres of park,” Karl Rickett, a spokesperson for Metropolitan Park, said in a statement. “This project is reflective of the borough president’s leadership to maximize the benefits received by the local community and ensure their continued involvement as Metropolitan Park comes to life."
As a condition of his approval, Richards said Cohen and Hard Rock, which has partnered with the Mets owner on the casino pitch, will be required to spell out in writing their commitment to nearly a dozen of the community benefits they promised during the city’s land use review process.
Those community benefits were also at the center of a majority of the testimony given by Queens residents and local leaders during the BP’s public hearing on the project earlier this month.
The Borough Hall hearing saw over 50 people share their thoughts on the casino proposal, with 43 speaking in favor and 13 in opposition.
The split in support looked quite different among the letters Richards said his office received about Metropolitan Park. Of the 73 letters from residents expressing their thoughts on the project sent to the BP, 70 were written in opposition while only three were in favor.
Combined, 86 residents said they didn’t support Cohen’s plan to bring a casino and entertainment complex to the city-owned land currently being used by the Mets as a parking lot, while 46 said the city should give Cohen its backing.
While those in support praised many of the same community benefits Richards outlined his recommendation, those in opposition said they fear building a casino in Queens would fuel gambling addictions, particularly among the borough’s lower income communities. They also said they didn’t want the city to give Cohen the rights to build on the publicly-owned plot that is technically designated as parkland.
A rendering of Metropolitan Park. Rendering via Metropolitan Park
Cohen, who celebrated a major win when he signed superstar Juan Soto to the Mets on a 15-year, $765 million contract last week, has been floating the idea of bringing a casino to Northern Queens for several years.
Whether or not his dream will be fulfilled will ultimately be decided by the state’s Gaming Commission, which has three downstate casino licenses to dole out around a dozen hopeful developers. But Cohen also needs a slew of local and state leaders to approve his plan in order for it to be built.
The borough president’s review of the project comes as Cohen seeks the city’s approval to make a series of zoning changes to the city-owned land the billionaire hedge fund owner hopes to build on. Richards’ review marks the second major step Cohen has had to make as part of the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure.
In November, all five of the community boards charged with reviewing the plan voted in favor of Metropolitan Park.
The plan will now be reviewed by the City Planning Commission and then the City Council, which will likely vote the way of the local member, Francisco Moya, who has enthusiastically supported Metropolitan Park.
“It is a transformative plan that could significantly boost our community and the city's economy,” Moya told Community Board 7 ahead of their vote on the plan in November.
But while Metropolitan Park may breeze through the city’s ULURP process, it could face difficulties elsewhere.
Cohen, like at least one other casino bidder, still needs the state legislature to pass a parkland alienation bill giving him permission to build a casino on the 50-acre plot.
While a parkland alienation bill doesn’t have to be introduced by the lawmaker whose district includes the parkland in question, the state legislature respects the tradition of giving the local lawmaker dominion over their district.
State Senator Ramos, a mayoral candidate who earlier this year said she wouldn’t support introducing parkland alienation legislation, said in November that she hadn’t changed her position for the Senate’s upcoming session.
But Cohen will still have his supporters in Albany.
Larinda Hooks, who will begin her first term in the Assembly in January, has been a staunch supporter of Metropolitan Park, much like her predecessor Assemblymember Jeffrion Aubry, who introduced a parkland alienation bill at the beginning of 2024.
If Cohen can’t get his parkland alienation through Ramos and Hooks, there’s a chance Governor Kathy Hochul includes a general parkland alienation bill in her upcoming budget proposal. Though Hochul has dismissed the idea, it remains a pathway not only for Cohen, but the developers behind a proposal to bring a casino to Ferry Point Park in the Bronx.
In addition to parkland alienation, Cohen will also need the approval of a local community advisory committee, which would be made up of mayoral representative, a gubernatorial representative, a City Council representative, the local assemblymember, the local state senator and the borough president. In order to get the council’s OK, Cohen would need two-thirds of the group to vote in support of Metropolitan Park.
The Gaming Commission will be the final piece of the puzzle for Cohen. The commission, which is around a year behind its original timeline for issuing the downstate casino licenses, is expected to dole out the three approvals in the final days of 2025.
