NY Gov. Hochul Says She’s Not Helping Steve Cohen’s Queens Casino Bid

A day after a report surfaced that her 2025 budget might include a provision that could potentially help select bidders for downstate casino licenses, including Steve Cohen and Hard Rock International, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said her budget won’t include anything to that effect.

Citing unidentified sources, The New York Post reported Wednesday that Hochul’s 2025 budget could include alterations to the state’s Uniform Land-Use Reform Process (ULURP), which would make it easier to develop property designated as parkland. Such adjustments could be a boon for New York Mets owner Cohen — a Hochul donor — and partner Hard Rock, who are hoping to build a casino hotel at Willets Point in Queens. At a press gaggle in Albany on Thursday, the governor said her budget won’t include ULURP adjustments.

We have to be very careful in this environment. There are people, shady people, who will try to manipulate the process to their benefit and be willing to put out lies,” Hochul told reporters. “I am not disclosing my budget at this time, because you know you’re going to keep asking me over and over, and I’m going to start saying, ‘I’m not disclosing it right now,’ but I have had no intention to put this in my executive budget, so I don’t know the source of that.”

Hochul added that she didn’t know how The Post article originated, and that the unidentified sources attributed in the story could have ties to Cohen/Hard Rock competitors.

Hochul Not Involved in New York Casino Process

The process surrounding the awarding of three downstate casino licenses in the fourth-largest state has been the subject of much derision, but Hochul isn’t involved — something she reminded reporters of.

“And all I know is that when it comes right down to it, I have no role in the ultimate determination of which casinos are selected,” said the governor. “That is by design. I do not want to be involved with this. There’s an independent entity that is going to make that decision, and I’ll support those decisions at the right time.”

While the state has attempted to remove politics from the casino licensing process, there is a political element to altering parkland designations because that move requires a member of the State Assembly and Senate to author related legislation. Currently, no member of the State Senate has introduced a bill to change Willets Point’s parkland classification.

Hochul Clear on Not Helping Cohen

As The Post and other New York media outlets noted, Cohen and his wife donated significantly to Hochul’s 2021 campaign, and have made large contributions to other Democrat election entities in the state.

Those donations seemed to stoke the speculation put forth by the sources in The Post article, but Hochul said she’s not helping Cohen or any other bidder for a downstate casino license.

“That would be wildly inappropriate. Nothing I would entertain and have not entertained,” the governor told reporters.