Cohen's casino plan to begin city review while questions about state approval remain
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By Jacob Kaye
Mets owner Steve Cohen officially submitted his plan to bring a casino and entertainment complex to Citi Field’s parking lot to the city for review this week.
On Monday, the City Planning Commission heard the first official pitch for Cohen’s controversial $8 billion casino proposal, which is currently in competition for one of three downstate casino licenses to be handed out by the state late next year.
Though Cohen and his partner, Hard Rock, need the approval of several state and local entities in order to ultimately bring the project – dubbed Metropolitan Park – to the northern corner of Queens, they officially began the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure this week, looking to get the city to sign off on several zoning changes Cohen hopes to make to the 50-acre site eyed for development. Under the city’s ULURP process, the project will be reviewed by several local community boards, the borough president, the City Planning Commission, the City Council and the mayor in the coming year.
Cohen’s proposal would bring a casino, a 2,300-room hotel, a 5,600-seat music venue, restaurants, a convention center, a community facility, a local food hall, parking garages and at least 20-acres of open space to the city-owned plot of land that has long been leased to the Mets and used for stadium parking.
Several city planning commissioners who heard the proposal on Monday pointed toward the project’s biggest hurdle – the land Metropolitan Park would be built on is technically designated as parkland, a designation that allows for a narrow number of uses. In order for Cohen and Hard Rock to build the project on top of it, the state would first have to pass a piece of legislation known as a parkland alienation bill.
The start of the city review comes about four months after Metropolitan Park was dealt a major – but not fatal – blow by State Senator Jessica Ramos, who, as the local senator, decided against introducing a parkland alienation bill in the state legislature’s upper house. Ramos, who earlier this month officially launched a campaign for mayor, said in May that after a year of holding a number of town halls on the proposal she had felt that as her constituents learned “more and more about this proposal, they are opposed to the construction of a casino in our backyard.”
Though Ramos’ rejection served as a setback for Metropolitan Park, the project’s backers claim there are other pathways toward state approval, including getting a lawmaker other than Ramos to introduce a parkland alienation bill.
“The state never intended any one person to have the ability to single-handedly stop or approve a project, which is why this process is designed to engage the community and elected officials every step of the way,” Karl Rickett, a spokesperson for the project, said in a statement to the Eagle on Monday.
“We have plenty of time and other avenues to get this done and feel confident given the overwhelming support from elected officials, unions, and the local community, that we have the best overall project,” he added. “We are all in.”
A new rendering of Metropolitan Park. Rendering via Metropolitan Park.
Also looming over the proposal is whether or not the state’s Gaming Commission will even award Cohen and Hard Rock a gaming license.
There are currently around a dozen developers hoping to win one of the three licenses, including those pitching casinos in Hudson Yards, Coney Island and Ferry Point in the Bronx.
Developers will be required to submit their applications to the Gaming Commission by the end of June 2025. At that point, community advisory committees will be formed for each proposal – the CACs would be comprised of a representative of the mayor, the borough president and local councilmember, among others. Each CAC will take a vote to approve or reject their respective proposals in September 2025 and the Gaming Commission will select the three downstate proposals to issue licenses to in December 2025.
But as the state’s process plays out over the next year and three months, Metropolitan Park will simultaneously be making its way through the city’s ULURP process.
Metropolitan Park’s ULURP application includes the most detailed description of the project presented to the public in the two years the proposal has been floating around. A 243-page scope of work submitted as part of the application, breaks down nearly every element of the proposal, which would be completed by 2030 if given the necessary approvals – Cohen wouldn’t pursue any element of the project if not given the ability to build a casino.
A map detailing the Metropolitan Park proposal, which would see a casino and entertainment complex built on Citi Field’s parking lot. Map via Metropolitan Park
Around 65 percent of the project would be parking, which would be spread through several garages and ground-level parking a number of buildings. The facility that would house the casino, hotel, music venue, restaurants, retail and convention center would take up around 33 percent of the development. Around 20 acres of the project would be turned into open space.
The project would also create around 23,000 jobs – around 16,300 would be temporary, construction jobs, while the remaining 6,700 would be permanent jobs.
Cohen also committed in his proposal to funding improvements to the Mets-Willets Point 7 train station that, under his plan, would connect with Metropolitan Park. However, those changes would first require approval from the MTA.
Should the City Council honor councilmember deference for the project – a longtime practice that sees the council defer all land use decisions to the local councilmember – it’s unlikely Metropolitan Park will have difficulty getting City Council approval. Local Councilmember Francisco Moya said in May that the project had his full support.
“I wholeheartedly believe that Metropolitan Park is in Queens' and New York City's best interest,” Moya, who will be term-limited out of office next year, said in a lengthy May statement. “[T]o ensure the success of this project, I am committing to advancing any and all other required actions, including any zoning, land use and Gaming Commission required approvals.”
“If we fail to seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, we ensure that the area around Citi Field remains underutilized parking lots for the foreseeable future; and we permanently stymie the future growth potential of Queens,” he added. “Let's not allow that to happen.”
