Public Design Commission delays Metropolitan Park casino vote
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The Public Design Commission tabled a vote on the design of Metropolitan Park after it said it had concerns about its understanding of the casino’s environmental impact. Rendering via Metropolitan Park
By Jacob Kaye
The city’s Public Design Commission unanimously voted to table its vote on the design of a public-facing portion of the Metropolitan Park casino after a number of people testifying in opposition to the project on Tuesday raised concerns about the $8 billion complex’s impact on the local environment.
The commission, which is tasked with reviewing and approving the design of buildings, art or other structures proposed on city-owned property, delayed its vote on a crucial section of Steve Cohen and Hard Rock’s Metropolitan Park casino and entertainment complex following a public hearing on Tuesday.
Their reluctance to vote on the project came after a vast majority of those testifying said they opposed Metropolitan Park, including some who claimed the complex would do little to mitigate flooding issues that already plague the northwestern section of the World’s Borough.
The commission initially set out to review only a section of the project’s design – the stairway and balcony area of the casino, which would face out to and connect with the public park slated to be built between the complex and Citi Field. But after dozens of Queens residents told the commission about their fears about the project, including its alleged potential to worsen flooding in the already-flood-prone area, the commission’s view shifted.
“We can't really think about this until we make sure that we understand what the site as a whole is doing,” PDC President Deborah Marton said. “It's just the sequence of things that makes it so that we don't understand the underlying conditions.”
The PDC has previously voted to approve other sections of the project, including its master plan, lighting proposals and a parking garage. But commissioners said they were surprised, concerned and also heartened by the large number of people who showed up to testify both against and in support of Metropolitan Park this week. Laurie Hawkinson, who has served on the commission for a decade, said she couldn’t recall a meeting that had drawn more public interest than the one that unfolded over nearly five hours on Tuesday.
Much of the testimony shared during the hearing varied little from remarks given at the dozens of public hearings held on Metropolitan Park over the past half decade. And much of it didn’t necessarily fall under the commission’s purview.
Those in support said the casino and entertainment complex would bring much-needed jobs and a boon to the local economy in Queens. They also praised the developers’ efforts to plan the project with the local community in mind. Those opposed said the project would be a plague on the community, enticing local residents to gamble away their hard-earned money. They also urged the city to find a more public use for the land Metropolitan Park will be built on, which is owned by the city but now leased to Cohen and Hard Rock.
Only a small portion of those testifying spoke to the project’s design. One person said they didn’t like the long glass windows that would adorn the side of the casino, arguing that they would give Metropolitan Park a “Donald Trump vibe.” Another said that while they liked the look of the public park, it would be overshadowed by the “huge honking mass of a casino” at the center of the complex.
At one point, the crush of negative testimony led one commission member to question the PDC’s role in the public review process.
“I feel like there's this huge elephant, and we're talking about what kind of saddle we're going to put on the elephant or what we're going to feed the elephant – but the elephant is this massive gambling operation,” Kenseth Armstead, a member of the commission, said. “We're tiny, and if people keep showing up like this, that means that whatever community board you went to, that did not work. That did not achieve the goal of getting community buy-in, and I think we need time to consider that.”
But the commission’s ultimate pushback centered around its concerns about its lack of understanding of Metropolitan Park’s environmental impact.
While the city ruled in February 2025 that Metropolitan Park’s “benefits…outweigh the adverse environmental impacts,” the PDC said they wanted to learn more about the impacts before voting on individual design features.
Though the commission did not specify when they would next vote on the project, it seems unlikely that they’ll do anything but approve Metropolitan Park’s design plans when all is said and done.
“I’m sure we’ll get to a yes,” PDC member Merryl Tisch said.
While the PDC has a say over the project’s design, the casino has already been approved by the city and the state.
Metropolitan Park was awarded one of three downstate casino licenses by the New York State Gaming Commission in 2025, and was also granted a number of permissions to build the project by the city.
Construction of the project has begun, but the project is running behind schedule.
The Eagle reported in May that the project’s developers had yet to begin testing the foundation of the parking lot the casino will be built on, despite telling the Gaming Commission they had planned to do so by Jan. 1. Construction of the casino, which was scheduled to begin in April, was subsequently pushed back.
Karl Rickett, Metropolitan Park’s spokesperson, told the Eagle on Tuesday that construction of the 78-acre project was “well underway.”
“The project’s design reflects years of community engagement and input from our neighbors, and was developed with an all-New York design team,” Rickett said. “Since the master plan was approved in 2025, we’ve worked closely with the Commission and we thank them for continuing to offer thoughtful input on this important project.”
