City Planning Commission passes casino zoning rule – won’t affect Queens proposals
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The City Planning Commission approved a zoning rule change this week that could fasttrack city casinos projects – but the two casino proposals for Queens likely won’t be affected by it. Screenshot from the City Planning Commission/Youtube
By Ryan Schwach
A change to the city's zoning rules aimed at easing the path for developers hoping to build a casino in New York City was approved by the the City Planning Commission on Wednesday. The rule, which city officials say is vital to ensuring at least one state issued casino license makes it to the five boroughs, now heads to the City Council for final approval.
In a 10-2 vote, the City Planning Commission voted to pass the rule which would create a new review process for potential casino projects, which can’t be reviewed under the city’s standard Uniform Land Use Review process.
While the measure could ease the New York State Gaming Commission’s concerns about casino proposals in the five boroughs facing zoning complications, a number of proposals currently on the table will fall out of the scope of the measure – including the only two casino proposals in Queens.
However, the rule, if fully approved, will be key to the Gaming Commission’s process for determining which developers should receive one of the three downstate casino licenses expected to be handed out in the next year or two.
Supporters of the rule – also known as a text amendment – say that without it, city casino proposals are at a disadvantage to non-five borough downstate applications.
“As the state considers proposals for casinos downstate, it's important that we create a level playing field for applicants within New York City so they can compete for this opportunity,” said
Dan Garodnick, the CPC chair and Director of the Department of City Planning when the review of the proposal began in November. “This text amendment would avoid duplicating the state's rigorous licensing process, which includes local representation on the CAC, while setting up a rational framework for consideration within our zoning.”
Although Garodnick and nine other CPC members voted through the rule, two members of the commission expressed reluctance towards the amendment, arguing that easing the process could come at the detriment of local communities.
The commissioners, along with other critics of the rule, have claimed that the new review process for casino proposals would grant the public little opportunity to formally voice their opinion on the projects.
“This is a vote to allow a backtrack for casinos to be built – it allows casinos to bypass the city land use review process,” said Commissioner Leah Goodridge, a tenant’s rights attorney. “Obviously supporters argue that it's duplicative and has been historically onerous for casinos, I disagree. Not that not about the onerous part but that this is not a particular type of proposal that we should be fast tracking.”
Steve Cohen’s Metropolitan Park and Resorts World’s casino expansion are still vying for downstate casino licenses, and the city zoning change for casinos won’t likely change their approval process. Renderings via Queens Future
“We have a lot of proposals that come through City Planning Commission's and some of them we have no people who come to testify, and some of them we have lots of people to come and testify,” she added. “‘Casinos are going to be the type of proposals where a lot of people will want community input. So for me, I think that it is not beneficial to limit any type of community input by thereby limiting the review process.”
Another commissioner, Juan Camilo Osorio, expressed similar reluctance towards the proposed review processes.
“Given how complex and controversial these proposals can be, I'm concerned with limiting the technical review of the City Planning Commission and new opportunities for public engagement,” Osorio said.
Goodridge also seemed wary of casino projects in general, citing a 2022 report Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond – a regional bank in Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina – that argued casinos don’t bring the increased tax revenue that supporters might hope, and are more likely to bring economic growth in areas that are less dense and don’t have any nearby casinos to compete with.
“It was one of the few studies that was done that found, ‘Despite tax revenues being a major motivator for state legalization of casinos, there is little evidence that they boost state taxes,’” she said, quoting the study. “I'm pointing that out because obviously a big motivator for fast tracking is what casinos will potentially bring to a city, into a neighborhood.”
The tax amendment will now go on to face approval or disapproval from the New York City Council.
Moving forward
Queens State Senator Joseph Addabbo, chair of the Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee, believes the passing of the text amendment would be a major step forward in the race to get casinos in the five boroughs.
“It took months, but I am happy,” he said. “I'm pleased that the City Planning Commission is doing the text amendment and hopefully the City Council within 60 days can vote on it.”
Despite the two Queens projects not directly being affected by the text amendment, Addabbo argued that its passing could potentially pick up the process – and light a fire under the State Gaming Commission – to get downstate casino licenses handed out.
“All those who want to submit a proposal will benefit from this,” he said.
But Addabbo, a noted supporter of the proposal to build out Resorts World New York City as a full-scale casino, said that the process may still be slowed down by the proposals that will require zoning or land use changes outside of the text amendment headed to the Council – among those projects is the plan to build a casino at Citi Field.
“One issue is land use and ULRUP, those are the issues that are really holding up the process and really for any of the actual submissions that will be done in the five boroughs,” he said. “That is the major hurdle that is holding up this whole downstate process.”
Addabbo believes that there will be widespread benefits for the city once casinos are constructed, including jobs, money for education and the money paid by the developers to obtain the licenses themselves, which is expected to go to the MTA.
Steve Cohen’s Metropolitan Park and Resorts World’s casino expansion are still vying for downstate casino licenses, and the city zoning change for casinos won’t likely change their approval process. Renderings via Genting
“The concern that I have is the fact that all the benefits that sit for these three licenses, things sit on the shelf collecting dust to us in the state and our residents are no good until the Gaming Commission starts that process,” he said.
“It's becoming embarrassing that we can't do these three licenses earlier,” he added.
The Queens Exemptions
Despite the potentially far reaching impact the text amendment could have for developers hopeful of building a casino in New York City, it does not largely concern Queens’ two proposals – Metropolitan Park and Resorts World.
In Southeast Queens, Resorts World, the “racino” owned and operated by Malaysian conglomerate the Genting Group, announced a $5 billion proposal to bring an expanded casino, a hotel, an entertainment venue, and community space to the area around their current buildings in February.
However, since Resorts World currently resides on state land, their proposal would not pertain to their project.
Their project maintains backing and support from local officials and community members, several of whom spoke at the company’s proposal reveal on Feb. 29.
Resorts World’s plans include an expanded casino, which they say would be open within months of getting the license, 1,600 new hotel rooms, a 7,000-seat arena, clubs, spas, restaurants and 10 acres of green space.
The proposal also includes a large-scale meeting room, the largest EV charging installation on the East Coast and what officials called an “innovation center,” which includes a basketball training program named for Queens-native Kenny Smith, and a community wellness center.
The company also proposed “Aqueduct Park”, which would bring an additional $5 billion for housing, green space, mass transit improvements and 3,000 housing units for Resorts World workers.
Competing with Resorts World in Flushing Meadows is Mets owner Steve Cohen’s Metropolitan Park casino plan.
The text amendment isn’t entirely applicable to Metropolitan Park, either.
The proposal involves building the casino and an entertainment complex on the parcel of land currently being used as Citi Field’s parking lot. The city-owned plot leased to the Mets is technically designated as parkland and would require a designation change at the state level in addition to any local zoning changes.
In addition to the casino, Metropolitan Park includes plans to build 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. Cohen’s group also said that as part of the project, the developers would pay to renovate the mass transit station at Willets Point and would help build a new bike path leading to and from the area.
“It’s time the world’s greatest city got the sports and entertainment park it deserves,” Cohen said in a statement in November. “When I bought this team, fans and the community kept saying we needed to do better. Metropolitan Park delivers on the promise of a shared space that people will not only want to come to and enjoy, but can be truly proud of.”
Metropolitan Park and Resorts World both declined to comment for this story.
