Queens Casino Plan Gets Another Boost Following Committee Vote

• State Senate committee votes to allow Cohen to build on parking lot near Citi Field
• Vote seen as boost for Cohen/Hard Rock casino plan

Steve Cohen’s plan to bring a casino hotel to Queens, NY landed another boost Tuesday when a state Senate committee voted in favor of allowing construction on a parking lot near Citi Field.

Earlier today, a state senate committee voted 4-3 in favor of a recently proposed bill that would permit commercial use of Willets Point property that’s currently classified as parkland. That legislation was unveiled last month by State Sen. John Liu (D-Bayside) who represents a small portion of the affected district and it’s integral to Metropolitan Park’s future.

Queens Casino Plan Notching Small Wins

Should Liu’s bill be signed into law, it opens the door for Cohen and Hard Rock to formally submit an application for a downstate casino license. The submission deadline is June 27 and it’s known that the Gaming Facility Location Board expects applicants to have dealt with land use issues prior to submitting bids, implying today’s vote is a win for Cohen and Hard Rock.

For decades, these 50 acres of asphalt have only been parking lots,” Metropolitan Park spokesperson Karl Rickett said in a statement cited by Bloomberg. “Today’s committee approval brings us one step closer to delivering 25 acres of actual public park space, 23,000 union jobs, new entertainment options, and over $1 billion in community benefits for Queens.”

The vote occurred nine days after State Sen. Jessica Ramos (D-Queens) acknowledged Liu’s bill could likely move forward without her support. Ramos, who represents the area in which the bulk of Metropolitan Park would be located, has long opposed parkland alienation legislation that would have advanced the casino bid.

On April 2^nd, Cohen and Hard Rock announced they’re partnering with Slate Property Group, LLC to bring 450 new residential units to an area a couple of miles away from the proposed site of Metropolitan Park. That could position the bid for increased favor among regulators and may have been a contributing factor in other contenders recently lifting their residential housing pledges.

New York Casino Race Taking Shape

Under the most optimistic scenario, the Gaming Facility Location Board will make recommendations to the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) in December as to which bidders should be awarded the three downstate casino licenses.

It’s widely rumored that MGM Resorts International’s Empire City Casino in Yonkers and Genting’s Resorts World New York in Queens are shoe-ins for two of the permits, leaving eight other bidders, including Cohen/Hard Rock, vying for just one license. That adds to the significance of the aforementioned Tuesday vote.

Potentially also shortening the odds of success for Metropolitan Park is the fact that the field is thinning. Saks dropped out and Las Vegas Sands is attempting to find a partner to take over its Nassau Coliseum casino plan.