It’s official. Steve Cohen owns the Mets.

Mr. and Mrs. Met make their way into Citi Field. AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File

By David Brand

The Wilpon era is over.

Hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen, a lifelong Mets fan, has officially purchased the team after receiving necessary approval from the majority of Major League Baseball club owners Friday. He also got the nod from New York City.

Mayor Bill de Blasio had some influence over the deal because Citi Field is located on Parks property, but said the city would not impede the transaction after more than 75 percent of MLB owners agreed to the sale.

“The New York City Law Department has completed its legal review of the proposed sale of the Mets,” de Blasio said. “New York City does not object to the sale, and the Mets may proceed with the transaction.”

That allowed Cohen to take over the Mets from Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz, who bought out a co-owner’s 50 percent stake in the team and took over sole control in 2002. 

During their tenure as majority owners, the Mets have made three playoff appearances, but have not won a World Series.

In the good times, like their run to the 2015 National League pennant, the club seemed to win in spite of the Wilpons’ penny-pinching and behind the scenes chaos. In the bad times, like historic late-season collapses in 2007 and 2008, the Mets were the laughing stock of professional sports. 

The Wilpons, who own a lucrative TV network and real estate firm, blamed their financial woes on their involvement with Bernie Madoff’s fraudulent investment scheme in 2008.

Cohen has had his own investment scandal — as a perpetrator, not a victim. His hedge fund was convicted of insider trading in 2013.

And so seven years after his company paid the largest penalty in Securities and Exchange Commission history, Cohen set another record with the Mets purchase:

The nearly $2.4 billion deal is the most ever paid for a North American sports franchise.

Cohen has pledged to prioritize analytics and to spend big on free agents, and even the most progressive fans are willing to overlook his financial improprieties if it means he’ll deliver the club’s first World Series title since 1986.