project also includes <\/a>a hotel and music venue alongside the gaming center, and when completed, it will provide easier pedestrian access to the Flushing Bay waterfront.<\/p>\nA map of the Metropolitan Park complex site. NYC.gov<\/p>\n
The state legislature also passed a law repurposing the lots around the Mets ballpark \u2014 designated parkland for the World\u2019s Fair \u2014 for commercial use. Six local Queens community boards overwhelmingly voted to back the casino project.<\/p>\n
But a group of community activists \u2014 including members of the Democratic Socialists of America \u2014 oppose the project and testified Tuesday at the design panel\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n
Alexis Kaloyanides, a member of Community Education Council 30 and an NYC-DSA member, said, \u201cAs a parent and public school advocate committed to the future generation of Queens kids, it is my responsibility to consider the societal harms that a casino will bring into our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new casino will be right next to Citi Field in Flushing. NYC.gov<\/p>\n
The Guardians of Flushing Bay raised concerns about how the project will address flooding.<\/p>\n
Several PDC members told opponents that their role is limited to approving elements of design for the project, not on whether the project should proceed. But they thanked them for raising legitimate concerns about the casino complex.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been handed a bulk of work that says this casino has been given permission by the State and City of New York to operate in this property. Our purview is \u2026. given where we are on the issue of gambling, how can we ensure the public right of access, use, utility, safety, and comfort within this structure,\u201d said PDC member Merryl Tisch.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also want to say that in my experience working at this table, the collaboration that has taken place on design issues within this structure has been a model of everyone hearing each other and moving forward. I have confidence that this too will be the case [with the casino\u2019s design].\u201d<\/p>\n
But one commission member questioned the merit of the entire project, complaining about placing a casino next to Flushing Meadows Park.<\/p>\n
Metropolitan Park is set to open in 2030. NYC.gov<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like there\u2019s this huge elephant, and we\u2019re talking about what kind of saddle we\u2019re going to put on the elephant or what we\u2019re going to feed the elephant \u2013 but the elephant is this massive gambling operation,\u201d PDC member Kenseth Armstead said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe keep saying \u2018resort.\u2019 It\u2019s a casino.\u201d<\/p>\n
Armstead said he wouldn\u2019t take a kid to a park located next to a casino.<\/p>\n
Panel members said they wanted to see changes to the main casino building\u2019s facade, a widening of corridors and staircases.<\/p>\n
But they also wanted to see flood mitigation plans for the structures under review.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t really think about this until we make sure that we understand what the site as a whole is doing,\u201d PDC President Deborah Marton said. \u201cIt\u2019s just the sequence of things that makes it so that we don\u2019t understand the underlying conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, a casino booster, was annoyed when he heard the design panel postponed approval of a key portion of the design project.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey should not hold up thousands of jobs for Queens. They can make things more difficult, but they can\u2019t prevent the project from happening,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat would be a dereliction of duty,\u201d Richards said.<\/p>\n
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The casino complex is projected to generate 23,000 union jobs, 25 acres of green space, and a spruced-up 7-line train station that connects to the complex.<\/p>\n
Richards said it\u2019s OK for PDC to exercise their legitimate role to review the aesthetics, like the color of glass windows, but not to be obstructionists.<\/p>\n
The Cohen-Hard Rock team downplayed the delay, saying the casino project is moving forward and that it has worked with the PDC to fine-tune the design.<\/p>\n
Protestors gather outside a news conference about plans to build a casino near Citi Field on Sunday, March 30, 2025, in New York. James Keivom<\/p>\n
\u201cConstruction at Metropolitan Park is well underway. The project\u2019s design reflects years of community engagement and input from our neighbors, and was developed with an all-New York design team,\u201d a Metropolitan Park spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince the master plan was approved in 2025, we\u2019ve worked closely with the Commission, and we thank them for continuing to offer thoughtful input on this important project.\u201d<\/p>\n
After receiving feedback from the PDC, the Metropolitan Park team said it made several changes, including: doubling the width and space of the outdoor colonnade and its public seating, including a new overlook of the 25-acre park; adding transparent glass sections around the fa\u00e7ade and an additional escalator at the main park-side entrance.<\/p>\n
The Gaming Commission awarded two other casino licenses in the city.<\/p>\n
The Genting Group\u2019s Resorts World New York obtained a license<\/a> to expand its slots parlor to offer table games next to Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park. It became the city\u2019s first full-fledged casino in April by offering blackjack, roulette, and other table games.<\/p>\n Bally\u2019s was offering a third license to open a casino on the property of President Trump\u2019s former golf course at Ferry Point near the Whitestone Bridge \u2014 a move that could net the Trump Organization $115 million.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s a high-stakes game of Flushing Hold \u2019em. An obscure city panel threw a wrench into plans for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378799,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[2026,2031,1091,648,57,9,24,320,63,122,124,123,3929,58],"class_list":["post-378798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-casino","tag-citi-field","tag-democratic-socialists-of-america","tag-flushing","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-mets","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-steve-cohen","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378798\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/378799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}