City and state leaders have given a lot of support to Metropolitan Park, but not all of the people in Queens are happy about it.
The first public hearing for the Metropolitan Park casino idea on Tuesday in Queens Borough Hall was loud, like a Mets-Phillies game at Citi Field, where the proposal was made.
For most of the three-hour session, people who were for and against the $8 billion mixed-use complex waved placards, chanted slogans, and cheered and jeered. The next hearing will be at the same place on September 16 at 10 a.m. local time.
The community advisory committee (CAC) for the project must have at least two hearings. After that, it can choose to hold more hearings or a binding vote if it thinks it needs to. The deadline for voting is September 30. To move on to state consideration, two-thirds of the CAC must approve the proposal. There are eight people who want three casino licenses in downstate New York. The licenses will be given out by the end of the year.
Steve Cohen, the hedge fund billionaire who owns the New York Mets, would be spending the most money on Metropolitan Park since he bought the organisation in 2020.
Cohen has spent a lot of money on players, like the $765 million deal for Juan Soto, which is the most expensive in MLB history. Now, he wants to turn 50 acres of parking lots around Citi Field into a huge mixed-use development. He has picked Hard Rock International, a Seminole-owned gambling and entertainment company, to help him with this quest.
The initiative is in the running for a licence since Cohen has a lot of influence and money, but it has several problems. These include significant resistance from local senator Jessica Ramos and the political consequences that comes with it, as well as the fact that another very good proposal (Resorts World NYC) is also located in Queens.
So far, Metropolitan Park has gotten a lot of support from board votes. But a lot of people who live there also spoke out against it on Tuesday, and the facade of support may be starting to show symptoms of cracking.
Answering enquiries from the CAC
Michael Sullivan, Cohen's chief of staff, led another presentation for the project on Tuesday. He wanted to answer three particular questions that the CAC had brought up at a presentation on August 4. The first was a new entrance and route to make it easier for pedestrians and cyclists to get about. This would replace a vehicle on-ramp.
George Dixon, a member of the CAC, had enquired about the potential of adding a soap box derby concourse as a second point. Stakeholders argued that because of its size, it couldn't be added to the current design. But they said that it would be possible to create one somewhere else using money from a community-led trust. Sullivan also displayed pictures of a new "vendor plaza" that would take the place of a bus parking lot. This plaza would be used as a temporary food court for the workers building the project.
"We humbly believe that this is the best place in New York City for one of these gaming licenses." Sullivan remarked, "It's the perfect place to connect these great sports venues and make something beautiful that we can all be proud of."
He was talking about Citi Field, the Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre (which just hosted the US Open), and Etihad Park, which will be the new home of the NYCFC soccer team in 2027.
Julissa Ferreras-Copeland, the project's outreach director and a former municipal council member, also spoke for it. She said again that the project was a success with votes from community boards, the city council, and the state legislature.
She remarked, "With this meeting, we will have had 18 public hearings on this project." "Eighteen times, our community has come out and shown their support."
A lot of help from local politicians
The first round of public comments had a lot of support from local leaders.
Daniel Dromm, a former city councilman, stated, "This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for Queens, and I can't say enough good things about it." "I've lived in Queens for most of my life, and we've never had a chance like this before."
A lot of people talked about how important it was for Queens to focus on its economic potential. This shows a common element in the downstate New York race: five of the eight bidders who are not from Manhattan have said that their areas deserve more chances for development and growth.
That said, Metropolitan Park might have a disadvantage because it is in the same borough as Resorts World, which is thought to be the largest contender. We don't know yet if state officials would be prepared to give two of the three available licenses to one borough.
Tom Grech, CEO of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, said, "These things don't happen every once in a while; this is a once-in-a-lifetime, generational project."
A lot of different things are happening at Metropolitan Park
There were a lot of different speakers and groups, and some comments were for and some were against. Because it has so many different people and immigrants, Queens is known as "The World's Borough." Data USA says that four different ethnic groups make up at least 10% of the borough's population, which is much more than the US average.
Some people cheered this and said that Metropolitan Park is a chance for everyone.
Frankie Miranda, CEO of the Hispanic Federation, remarked, "Our people, who were considered essential workers, have been, with a few notable exceptions, invisible and overlooked when it comes to transformational investments." "That is why Metropolitan Park is so important to the future of these neighbourhoods."
According to Data USA, the Asian population is the largest ethnic group in Queens, making up to than 25% of the total. Some people think that Asians prefer to gamble because China's Macau region is the world's biggest casino market by revenue. In 2022, the New York Council on Problem Gambling looked into this misconception in great detail.
Simon Pelman, a member of Community Board 8 who owns an assisted living home with mostly Asian residents, was one of many speakers who stated the casino complex would be a great addition and that "if [Asian residents] want to gamble, they certainly have the right to do that." But not everyone agreed.
Annie Lowe, a lawyer for the Asian American Legal Defence and Education Fund, said, "No community benefits agreement could make up for the harm this luxury complex will cause, which will make the already high level of speculation that is displacing communities of colour in Queens even worse."
It's not surprising that residents are against it.
At this juncture in the licensing process, it's safe to say that local people are the ones who are most against Metropolitan Park. This has been true for almost every bid, except for Resorts World, which had a lot of inhabitants who didn't belong to any groups during its first hearing.
As the meeting on Tuesday went on, the amount of pushback seemed to grow. Opponents often jeered or applauded dependent on what the speakers said.
Those who did get to the microphone to speak out against the process, Cohen's billionaire power, and even the committee itself, which wasn't well received. By the end of the hearing, the internet streaming window was almost completely covered by signs against casinos.
The whole community input process has made us all ponder, "What should we beg the rich guys for?" "That's what this whole thing has been," said Zeke Dunn, a resident. "We don't need to ask rich people for parks; this is backwards."
Stakeholders are pushing for a 25-acre public park as a significant selling factor, but it doesn't seem to be going down well in the area. Residents didn't support the idea because of the park; instead, they mostly queried why a casino was needed for such development. People who don't like all the bids have asked this question a lot.
"Please don't let this obvious money grab by people who only care about their own profits destroy Queens families," homeowner Victoria Hoyle said.
