Queens casino bidders topped state lobbying spending last year

Competing developers behind Resorts World New York City and Metropolitan Park spent big on lobbying in Albany last year, according to a recently released report. Rendering via Resorts World

By Jacob Kaye

Two bidders each hoping to bring a casino to Queens were among the top spenders on lobbying in Albany last year, according to a recently released report.

The competing developers in Queens individually outspent all of the other approximately one dozen developers also vying for one of the three downstate casino licenses expected to be handed out by the state’s Gaming Commission at the end of 2025.

Genting Group, the Malaysia-based conglomerate that owns Resorts World New York City in South Queens, and Queens Future, the company created by New York Mets owner Steve Cohen and Hard Rock in their pursuit to bring a casino to Citi Field, respectively ranked third and fifth in lobbying spending in New York in 2024, according to a new report released by the New York State Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government.

Genting shelled out a little more than $3.2 million on its Albany lobbying efforts last year while Queens Future spent a little more than $2.6 million. No other casino developer ranked in the top 10.

The sum spent on lobbying by the two Queens bidders is only a fraction of the price of what they expect their respective proposals to cost. Resorts World, which already operates a “racino” in South Queens, says that its plan to expand its gaming and add a live music stadium, a conference center and new hotels will cost $5 billion. Cohen’s casino and entertainment complex, which would feature new hotels, a live music venue, a food hall, park space and infrastructure changes, is estimated to cost $8 billion.

The spending at the state level from the Queens developers aligns with their spending in the five boroughs, according to a lobbying report released by the City Clerk’s office last month.

Cohen led casino spending in New York City in 2024, doling out more than $2 million on lobbying New York City Mayor Eric Adams, his administration and other city lawmakers. Genting spent nearly $1 million on their lobbying efforts at the city level.

The spending by the Queens casino hopefuls contributed to the largest lobbying spending total at both the state and city levels.

Statewide, $377 million was spent on lobbying efforts, a 4.57 percent increase from the $360 million spent in 2023, which also was a record-setting year. Around $138 million was spent on lobbying in the city, a 5.3 percent increase from the $130.96 million spent in 2023.

The total lobbying spend at the state level has increased every year since 2020, according to the report.

Both Resorts World and Queens Future employed a number of well-known lobbying firms to do their bidding in Albany.

Resorts World hired firms including Jenkins, Patrick B & Associates, Obsidian Strategists, Ward Strategies, Albany Strategic Advisors, Cordo & Company, Moonshot Strategies and Bolton-St Johns, which took in the second-most in commissions in 2024 compared to all other New York firms.

Queens Future hired Lemma Strategies, Gold Eagle Strategies, H & C Consulting, Dickson & Avella, Green Book Strategies, Hollis Public Affairs, London House, Marcos A Crespo, Mirram Group, Moonshot Strategies, Nuevo Diaz & Associates, Rxr Development Services and Tusk Strategies.

Both Resorts World New York City and Queens Future declined to comment for this story.

New York Mets owner Steve Cohen was one of the top spenders on lobbying in Albany in 2024 as he pursues one of the three downstate casino licenses expected to be handed out by the state’s Gaming Commission at the end of this year. AP file photo by Chris Szagola

The big-time spending comes ahead of the long-anticipated issuance of three casino licenses to downstate bidders at the end of the year.

The approximately one dozen casino hopefuls are expected to submit their proposals to the Gaming Commission in the coming months. Many of the developers, including both Queens Future and Resorts World, have spent the past several years laying the groundwork for the casino pitches in the neighborhoods where they hope to build and in the halls of power, where lawmakers that hold sway over whether or not the developers’ plans are feasible are lobbied.

Getting lawmakers on board was particularly important for Cohen, whose Metropolitan Park plan requires several zoning changes and state-granted permissions. Though Cohen is far from the only bidder in need of both city and state approvals, Resorts World has faced far fewer hurdles, primarily because it already operates a quasi-casino in the World’s Borough.

Cohen’s proposal would be primarily constructed on Citi Field’s parking lot, which is owned by the city, leased to the Mets and technically designated as parkland, a designation that severely limits what can and cannot be built atop it.

For the past several years, Cohen has been looking to the state legislature to pass a bill known as a parkland alienation bill that would give him explicit permission to build the casino on the 50-acre plot of land.

Though he initially got support from local Assemblymember Jeff Aubry and his successor, Larinda Hooks, who began her first term in office at the start of 2025, Cohen ran into a wall when it came to Aubry and Hooks’ Senate counterpart, Jessica Ramos.

Ramos, who is also running for New York City mayor, said last year that she wouldn’t support Cohen’s casino wishes and declined to introduce the bill.

But according to lobbying records, Cohen kept the conversation over parkland alienation going in Albany.

Queens Future and the lobbying groups it hired to advocate for them in Albany met with State Senator John Liu on multiple occasions in 2024 to discuss the parkland alienation bill that had been introduced in the Assembly, according to the lobbying commission.

The effort appears to have paid off. Last week, Liu, whose district includes a 12-acre sliver of the proposal, announced that he’d introduce the parkland alienation bill on Cohen’s behalf in exchange for a promise to build a longshot pedestrian bridge over Flushing Creek or donate $100 million for improvements to Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

Cohen’s lobbying at the city level has also appeared to be fruitful.

Earlier this year, the City Council overwhelmingly approved a series of zoning changes the Mets owner needed as part of his proposal.