Queens senator agrees to back Cohen’s casino at Citi Field
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State Senator John Liu and Mets owner Steve Cohen came to an agreement over Cohen’s plan to build a casino and entertainment complex on Citi Field’s parking lot over the weekend. Liu plans to introduce legislation giving Cohen permission to build on the land while Cohen will attempt to build a longshot “skypark” over Flushing Creek. Photo via Metropolitan Park
By Jacob Kaye
A Queens lawmaker over the weekend said he’d introduce a bill that would allow New York Mets owner Steve Cohen to build a casino on Citi Field’s parking lot in exchange for a longshot promise to build a pedestrian bridge over Flushing Creek.
State Senator John Liu said on Sunday that he’d introduce this week legislation that would grant Cohen the right to build the casino and entertainment complex dubbed Metropolitan Park on the 50-acre lot owned by the city and technically designated as parkland, a designation that has previously excluded developers from building anything on top of the land that doesn’t serve an explicit public good.
The bill, known as a parkland alienation bill, has thus far eluded Cohen, which in turn has threatened to squash his ambition to build the $8 billion complex next to the baseball stadium he owns. While Queens Assemblymember Larinda Hooks and her predecessor, Jeffrion Aubry, previously introduced such a bill in the lower house of the state legislature, Queens State Senator Jessica Ramos declined to do so after finding that a majority of her constituents were “opposed to the construction of a casino in [their] backyard.”
Liu said he’d introduce the bill and help Cohen get one major step closer to winning one of the three downstate casino licenses expected to be handed out by the state Gaming Commission at the end of the year after hearing an outpouring of support for the project.
The lawmaker’s pledge may prove to be controversial. While the Flushing senator represents a 12-acre sliver of the proposed project, the vast majority of the plan, including the site for the casino, sits in Ramos’ district. The state legislature typically only votes on land use changes introduced by the lawmaker who represents the area eyed for change.
Despite going over Ramos’ head, Liu said he was “close” with his neighbor in the Senate and said he spoke with her before making the announcement.
“I know her principled position is based on feedback from her constituents,” Liu said on Sunday. “Similarly, my intent to advance the enabling legislation is based on feedback I received from constituents, some opposed, but far more in favor.”
In exchange for the parkland alienation bill, Cohen committed to building a Highline-like bridge linking Downtown Flushing to Willets Point, which Liu called “Flushing Skypark.”
A Rendering of the Flushing Skypark, which Mets owner Steve Cohen would build if granted a casino license. If he does not follow through on the complex project, Cohen committed to sending $100 million to improvements at Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Rendering via Metropolitan Park
Neither Cohen nor Liu provided many details about the proposal, which is very much in its infancy. The Mets owner does not own the land either end of the bridge would land on and neither Liu nor Cohen provided an estimate as to how much the project would cost.
Given the Flushing Skypark’s hurdles, Cohen and his Metropolitan Park partners Hard Rock, signed an agreement with Liu to donate $100 million to the Flushing Waterfront Alliance to make improvements to Flushing Meadows Corona Park if Skypark isn’t built.
Both the pedestrian bridge and the $100 million for park improvements, like the other approximately $1 billion in community benefits Cohen has committed to, are contingent on Cohen winning a casino license.
Cohen himself will make the determination as to whether or not Skypark is possible.
“This is Steve Cohen and his team,” Liu said. “If anybody can do it, they can.”
Liu hasn’t always been entirely on board with Cohen’s plans. Last year, Liu penned an op-ed alongside Manhattan Assemblymember Grace Lee warning against the potential for new casinos to exacerbate gambling addiction in New York City’s Asian American communities, like the one he represents in Flushing that would be next door to Metropolitan Park should it be built.
“Gambling in the Asian American community is a problem that unfortunately is not being taken seriously enough, and there can be no doubt that the arrival of new casinos in New York City will lead to increased rates of gambling addiction, financial hardship and strained familial relationships for Asian-American New Yorkers,” the lawmakers wrote in the Daily News.
“Moreover, the proximity of casinos to Asian-American populated communities raises concerns about vulnerable elderly and low-income groups who are already at high risk of exposure,” the added.
On Sunday, Liu said that he remains “wary of casinos” but that he feels they are inevitable given the state’s licensing process, which has been underway for years.
“Unfortunately, the problem will exist no matter where these gaming licenses are,” Liu said. “The potential for the harm from gambling addiction is there, and that's something that I will vigilantly monitor and work with the State Office of Addiction Services and Supports to provide resources and create programs to help mitigate the problem.”
For now, it appears that Cohen has crossed a major barrier that at one point threatened to torpedo his plan to bring a casino to Queens.
“I made it clear to the team from the beginning, whatever we do around Citi Field, if we can't make this space something the community and fans can be proud of, then we aren’t doing it,” Cohen said from Flushing on Sunday.
Cohen and Hard Rock are one of around a dozen developers vying for one of the three licenses for the downstate bidders.
Cohen is not the only developer in need of a parkland alienation bill in order for their proposal to work, but he appeared to face a difficult obstacle when Ramos said last year that she wouldn’t introduce the bill on the Mets owner’s behalf.
On Sunday, Ramos said that her position on Metropolitan Park had not changed and vowed to vote against Liu’s bill when it comes to the Senate floor.
“I cannot support a casino in Corona and am a definitive ‘no’ on any alienation bill that goes against my neighbors’ wishes,” Ramos said.
When asked Sunday if he feared that he’d be setting a new precedent by introducing a parkland alienation bill for land in another senator’s district, Liu said that he wasn’t concerned.
“I think the precedent that's being set here is the commitment to something like this Flushing Skypark and the contingency of $100 million payment if they're not able to get this done,” Liu said. “That is the precedent and I'm very proud to see that this is moving forward.”
Cohen and Hard Rock will submit their final proposal for Metropolitan Park to the Gaming Commission in the coming months.
The proposed complex would include new hotels, a live music venue, a food hall and 25 total acres of park space split up among the development, in addition to the casino.
In addition to the parkland alienation bill, Cohen needed the city to approve several zoning changes to the site.
The City Council overwhelmingly approved the changes in March. Prior to coming before the Council for a vote, all five of the Queens community boards charged with reviewing the plan voted in favor of it.
The project also received the support of Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, who has said that he wants both Metropolitan Park and a competing casino proposal from Resorts World New York City in South Queens to win a gaming license.
Richards on Sunday said that he was “deeply grateful” to Liu for his plans to introduce the parkland alienation bill in the Senate.
“As I have made abundantly clear for more than a year, the Metropolitan Park plan is a grand slam for Northwest Queens — a region of our borough that has historically been minimized, marginalized and maligned,” Richards said.
“I’m proud to have worked closely with the development group throughout the land use review process to ensure the surrounding communities are the biggest winners at Metropolitan Park, which would replace a parking lot that sits unused for more than 200 days per year,” he added.
Update: This story was updated to more accurately reflect the amount of the proposed project that would be located in Liu’s district.
