Construction prep underway for $8 billion Metropolitan Park casino in Queens
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Construction preparation for Metropolitan Park began on Citi Field’s parking lot earlier this month. Photo via Mark Weprin/X
By Jacob Kaye
While the New York Mets lay the groundwork for their upcoming season in Florida, similar foundations are being laid for Steve Cohen’s casino next to Citi Field.
Preparations for the construction of Metropolitan Park began in recent weeks, marking the first steps toward the creation of the casino and entertainment complex Cohen and Hard Rock won a license to build in December.
The work doesn’t qualify as an actual groundbreaking, according to a Metropolitan Park spokesperson. That will come when construction begins in earnest – the spokesperson declined to comment on when that might be.
Preparation for construction began earlier this month. The work includes breaking up some existing curbs and clearing Citi Field’s parking lot, the over 50-acre parcel of city-owned land where the massive casino and surrounding resort will one day stand.
"Preparation for construction is now underway, bringing us one step closer to creating 23,000 jobs, 25 acres of new public park space, and the sports and entertainment district Queens deserves,” Karl Rickett, Metropolitan Park’s spokesperson, said in a statement. “Our commitment to this community has guided us from day one, and will continue to be our priority as we realize this vision."
Rickett declined to provide specifics when asked how construction prep and the construction of the project itself might affect fan parking during the upcoming baseball season, which begins in Queens on March 26.
“Metropolitan Park construction is designed to minimize disruption as much as possible,” he said. “Our team is working closely with the Mets to ensure a seamless experience for fans, neighbors, and the local community.”
Concerns over parking during the project’s construction and after its opening dominated discussions about Metropolitan Park during the three-year period Cohen publicly vied for one of three downstate casino licenses handed out by the New York State Gaming Commission in December.
In over a dozen town halls and presentations before local community boards and advisory committees, locals, many of whom supported the proposal, demanded answers about how the $8 billion complex would alter parking for Mets games and affect traffic in the surrounding area.
In fact, parking worries nearly threatened to torpedo the project weeks before the Gaming Commission was set to award its licenses.
In mid-November, a judge ordered the city to halt its lease negotiations with Cohen, granting a temporary restraining order to the United States Tennis Association, which alleged that City Hall was set to violate its lease with USTA by not specifying in the new document that tennis fans would have parking priority in the lot each year during the U.S. Open.
The ruling was quickly made moot when the "superiority clause” was worked into the lease, which was officially finalized on Dec. 22, according to city records.
Metropolitan Park was awarded the coveted casino license several weeks prior. Also given licenses were Resorts World New York, which operates an existing racino in South Queens, and Bally’s Corporation, which plans to open a casino complex in the Bronx, at the foot of the Whitestone Bridge.
Metropolitan Park will primarily be erected on the portion of the parking lot that sits west of Citi Field.
The casino will include 5,000 slot machines, 375 table games and 30 poker tables. The complex will also include a live music venue, 25 acres of public open space scattered throughout, a new hotel, and a “Taste of Queens” food hall. Cohen has also promised $1 billion in community benefits, including a complete overhaul of the 7 line train station at Mets-Willets Point, which the MTA has yet to agree to.
When Metropolitan Park is completed in 2030, it will be outfitted with a few above-ground parking garages and several levels of underground parking built beneath a large portion of the complex.
