And then there were four. Metropolitan Park, an ambitious $8 billion proposal for an entertainment complex anchored by a casino adjacent to Citi Field, has received unanimous approval from a Community Advisory Committee (CAC), allowing the project to move toward the final hurdle in the race to obtain one of three coveted downstate gaming licenses.
The project, which represents a joint venture by Cohen and Hard Rock International, would transform 50 acres of Citi Field parking lot into a sprawling casino complex featuring a 25-acre public park, new shops and restaurants, a Taste of Queens food hall, and a full-scale redevelopment of the Mets-Willets Point subway station, along with improvements to roads and bike paths.
The proposal also features a Hard Rock resort and casino, a key revenue-generating component of the project.
At Queens Borough Hall on Tuesday, Metropolitan Park became the fourth and final casino proposal to receive CAC approval ahead of a decision by the State Gaming Commission this December.
Resorts World in South Ozone Park and MGM Empire City in Yonkers — two racinos that already offer slot machines but no live tables — received unanimous approval from their respective CACs last week, while a CAC voted 5-1 in favor of a Bally’s casino in the Bronx on the site of a golf course previously owned by President Donald Trump in a vote on Monday. Other CACs have rejected three proposals in Manhattan and one in Coney Island.
The Metropolitan Park CAC voted 6-0 in favor of the project on Tuesday, with Assembly Member Larinda Hooks, Council Member Francisco Moya and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards all voting in favor.
Lin Zeng, who was appointed to the panel on behalf of Mayor Eric Adams, and Gregory Anderson, a Gov. Kathy Hochul appointee, also voted in favor of the project, as did George Dixon, who was appointed to the panel by state Sen. Jessica Ramos.
Ramos, who represents the 13th Senate District covering the area included in the Metropolitan Park proposal, had consistently opposed the casino project and repeatedly refused to introduce the parkland alienation legislation necessary to convert the 50-acre site from public parkland into commercial property.
State Sen. John Liu, who represents a much smaller portion of the Metropolitan Park proposal, eventually introduced the legislation in the state Senate, which voted 54-5 in favor.
After obtaining CAC approval, Metropolitan Park now goes forward to the final round of a lengthy process to obtain a downstate license, with the State Gaming Commission set to decide on the three successful projects before the end of the year.
It appears to be a straight shoot-out between the Bally’s and Metropolitan Park for the final license, with both racinos in South Ozone Park and Yonkers long expected to be handed licenses due to the infrastructure already in place at both sites.
According to the Metropolitan Park development team, the project is expected to generate 23,000 union jobs and deliver $1 billion in community benefits for Queens.
Representatives of the Metropolitan Park project have previously stated that the development will not proceed unless it wins one of the three downstate licenses.
Karl Rickett, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Park project, welcomed the CAC’s unanimous approval of the development on Tuesday, stating that the vote underscores the “deep and broad” community support behind Metropolitan Park.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to move forward in this process and be one step closer to making Metropolitan Park’s community-first vision a reality,” Rickett said in a statement.
Richards, meanwhile, said he voted in favor of the development partly because of the “outreach and respect” shown to the local community by the Metropolitan Park team throughout the process. Richards said such outreach set the Metropolitan Park plan apart from previous failed projects such as Amazon’s shelved HQ2 project in Long Island City.
“They literally went to every corner of this earth to make sure that they spoke to everybody,” Richards said after Tuesday’s CAC vote. “I think what made this plan much different than a lot of larger economic development projects is they listened first. They didn’t come into queens and just shove a plan down our throat.”
Asked if he was concerned if the Metropolitan Park development would attract “problem gambling” to the community, Richards said the project will have a number of safeguards on-site, including addiction services. Still, Richards believes elected officials have a responsibility to continuously monitor concerns if the Metropolitan Park project comes to fruition.
“I think we have an obligation to make sure that we’re keeping our eyes and ears open,” he added.
Richards believes that many of the people who have raised opposition or concerns about the project will be the ones “taking advantage” of the thousands of union jobs that Metropolitan Park brings to Queens.
“This community was hit extremely hard during the pandemic,” Richards said. “We have an opportunity to now put 20,000 people and beyond to work.”
He described the vote as a “home run” for Queens, adding that the borough has “hit the jackpot” with the Metropolitan Park development.
Richards further believes that Metropolitan Park has a strong chance of obtaining a downstate license, despite one license already likely going to Queens with the Resorts World project.
“We’re getting both,” Richards asserted Tuesday.
Nor is he surprised that the CAC vote was unanimous, with Ramos’s appointee voting in favor.
“I’m not surprised because they (Metropolitan Park) have been good partners,” he said. “They’ve listened from the very beginning.”
Dixon, Ramos’s appointee, said he voted in favor of the project because he had been informed he had the opportunity to make his own decision, stating that he viewed the project as an opportunity for the borough and the community. He added that his vote does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Ramos.
Meanwhile, Moya said the project reflects the culmination of efforts to revitalize the Willets Point area, which will soon be home to the city’s first-ever soccer-specific stadium, Etihad Park. The stadium, and an adjacent housing development, are currently undergoing construction on the opposite side of Citi Field to the proposed site for Metropolitan Park.
Moya, who is termed out of running for District 21 again, said Metropolitan Park would help shape his legacy in the community.
“This is going to be a really added benefit to the community,” Moya said. “We’re going to see job creation there. It’s going to be a destination for people to come with, not just the sports, but also entertainment. And I think this is really great for the borough of Queens. I feel that this is really the step forward.”
Like Richards, Moya believes Metropolitan Park has succeeded where other projects have failed because it included grassroots support from members of the local community. He added that the majority of the opposition to Metropolitan Park has come from “outside the district” and insisted that he has an obligation to listen to the views of his constituents first.
Also like Richards, Moya believes the project has a strong chance of obtaining one of the downstate licenses, despite one license likely already going to Resorts World.
“I think Queens should get it. I think the project here itself is just another level,” he said. “You’re going to see a beautiful structure that, if you look at the renderings, it looks nothing like a casino. But I think that this area is the right area in which to bring entertainment.”
Tom Grech, president and CEO of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, said the proposal would not only deliver 23,000 jobs to the area but also careers.
“It’s opportunities for people to get out of that notion of not having generational wealth and get into careers, benefits and opportunities for themselves and their family to really grow,” Grech said.
There is “no question” that Metropolitan Park, alongside Citi Field, the USTA and the new soccer stadium, would be a “big boon” for tourism in a part of Queens that is often neglected by international visitors, Grech added.
Grech believes that the project has been the most “well-vetted opportunity” in the history of the borough, in stark contrast with the Amazon project, which he described as a top-down process.
“The community has been totally involved every step of the way,” Grech said. “If the detractors have not been part of that, shame on them. There’s been ample opportunity, hundreds and hundreds of meetings over the years.”
There is also plenty of room in Queens for two casinos, Grech said, noting that Resorts World is ideally situated for visitors arriving at JFK, while Metropolitan Park is situated close to LaGuardia.
