$9.3 million secured by Council Member Shekar Krishnan and the New York City Council,\u00a0<\/p>\n
$2 million from Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand,\u00a0<\/p>\n
$1 million from Rep. Grace Meng,\u00a0<\/p>\n
$1 million from Assembly Member Jessica Gonz\u00e1lez-Rojas, and\u00a0<\/p>\n
$250,000 each from Assembly Members Steven Raga and Catalina Cruz.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG_6500.jpg\")
Site of the proposed community center in Jackson Heights. Credit: Taylor Jung\/Epicenter NYC<\/p>\n
Once built, the center will include the neighborhood\u2019s first community pool, basketball courts and a theater. It will serve 10,000 children and house afterschool, summer and educational programs, workforce training, and more.<\/p>\n
The casino money ties the community center to one of the most controversial projects in Queens, being developed a few miles away. Metropolitan Park has been the subject of contentious debate: Supporters say the casino project will be an economic boon to the borough and revitalize an area that is currently parking lots. Critics say it will cause rent to rise and displace locals. They also voice concerns over gambling addiction.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Editor\u2019s note: Epicenter aims to foster community engagement. In 2023, it promoted community forums<\/a> on the development project, with paid support from Metropolitan Park, to encourage attendance. That content was labeled \u201csponsored\u201d in its newsletters and on its website and social media.<\/p>\n All elected officials who helped fund the Jackson Heights community center, except for the U.S. senators, were present at the Wednesday press conference. Notably absent from the parade of speakers at the podium were two prominent politicians: Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who represents parts of the district alongside Meng. The mayor has said he is \u201cskeptical<\/a>\u201d of casinos but will not stop their expansion.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hochul has been campaigning in Queens<\/a>, and her Jackson Heights stop comes just one week after Blakeman visited the neighborhood. The borough has drifted right in recent elections: President Donald Trump gained roughly 10 percentage points<\/a> in the borough from 2020 to 2024, gaining support<\/a> in neighborhoods like Jackson Heights<\/a> and Corona. In 2022, Hochul trailed Republican challenger Lee Zeldin in parts of Queens. Three weeks before Election Day, she is polling 11 percentage points ahead of Blakeman among registered voters, according to the latest Marist Poll<\/a>. Early voting begins Oct. 24.\u00a0<\/p>\n The community center site, meanwhile, sits just a few blocks from neighborhood showing strong recent support for democratic-socialist and other left-wing candidates. Jackson Heights is one of the city\u2019s more diverse communities with a longstanding shortage of public parkland that has frustrated residents. During the pandemic, a stretch of 26 blocks along 34th Avenue was closed to traffic during certain hours and dubbed Paseo Park, which remains today and offers programming such as dance, exercise and public art. The community center borders the park and is within walking distance of several schools.\u00a0<\/p>\n Multiple officials describe the community center as a passion project of Krishnan, who represents the neighborhood and who has long advocated for the center. The council member said that the center will require more funding in order to finish the project.<\/p>\n \u201cThis has been a dream of ours for so long, and I\u2019m so glad we finally achieved it,\u201d he told Epicenter NYC. \u201cI\u2019m glad that we finally found a space, and then of course it always takes a coalition in government to get things done.\u201d<\/p>\n The Jackson Heights center follows the state\u2019s earlier support<\/a> for the Boys & Girls\u2019 Club\u2019s community center in Astoria. That facility is part of a $300 million redevelopment with a pool, planetarium and 200 affordable housing units.\u00a0<\/p>\n