Stable housing in Aqueduct?

THE CITY 

City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams laid out her annual vision for the city Wednesday, focusing on the affordability of living in the city ahead of another budget battle with the mayor.

The speaker delivered her State of the City remarks at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, praising its cultural significance before pivoting to the rising cost of living in the five boroughs. 

“For too many New Yorkers, the housing and affordability crisis has presented an impossible dilemma: you cannot afford to live in the city, so you struggle or you leave,” she said. “The situation is dire.”

Despite her enthusiasm, key initiatives from the speaker’s previous State of the City address last year remained unfulfilled or paused. As she did last year, Adams stressed the importance of hiring at understaffed agencies across the city, but many roles are still empty.

An exodus of working and middle-class residents, she said in Wednesday’s speech, points to a failure of civic leadership — and has disproportionately impacted communities of color. 

“As a government, we are not fulfilling our duty to New Yorkers,” she said. 

Adams, who has represented neighborhoods in Southeast Queens since 2018, announced initiatives to help with the cost of housing, education and child care. She focused on rebuilding a government and city hobbled by the pandemic, and stressed strengthening libraries and the City University system.

“Our economic and job recovery has been uneven, and we must provide opportunities for people at every level to succeed,” she said.

One package of bills touted Wednesday aims to tackle deed theft, which predominantly affects working-class communities of color. The legislation will require the city to inform homeowners and people who inherit property of the fair-market value of their homes, and will also provide legal assistance to help them protect their assets. The move comes in response to an investigative series from THE CITY.

“We must build a city where all New Yorkers, especially working people who make up the backbone of our communities, can build their legacy right here in our city,” Adams said. 

The speaker also discussed the possibility of transforming the Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, saying the 172-acres of state-owned land in Queens “represents a generational opportunity” to build more housing and amenities. The land is also next to a city-owned site near the A train, which would also be a good location for housing, she said. 

“Repurposing the land for housing and other amenities can uplift this community district — which has produced the lowest amount of housing of any in Queens,” she said. 

Adams did not mention the pending proposal from the site’s operator, Resorts World Casino, to obtain a coveted state casino license and fully develop the site.

City aborts migrant tent shelter in Aqueduct (again)

 

 

Adamsville in Aqueduct is kiboshed. https://t.co/GCyyobMnxX

— JQ LLC (@ImpunityCity) July 18, 2023

 

 

So it turns out that Mayor Adams and his "team" considered using Aqueduct's parking lot for tent shelters before and decided to try again for some reason. It sure looks like this was a stunt pulled to make the civics look like a bunch of intolerant xenophobic racist NIMBY's. But that's hard to do when the officials and civic leaders against this plan and the president's and the city's failing policies on the migrant crisis have this much racial diversity.

Next stop Adamsvilles, Aqueduct and Creedmoor

NY Post 

Mayor Eric Adams’ administration is eyeing the Aqueduct Racetrack and Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens as new locations for massive emergency tent cities that would help temporarily shelter the relentless influx of migrants in the Big Apple, officials said Sunday.

City Hall notified Queens Borough President Donovan Richards late Saturday that officials would be touring the grounds of both sites this week, he confirmed to The Post.

If they are deemed suitable, the tent cities would open on the grounds of Aqueduct and Creedmoor at the end of July, Richards said.

The City first reported the locations were in play to be converted into encampments housing 1,000 migrants each.

Both sites are on state property and Gov. Kathy Hochul would have to approve the plans, officials said.

“As the mayor has said, all options are on the table as we deal with this crisis and no humanitarian relief centers are final until announced,” an Adams spokesperson said Sunday.

“With over 53,000 asylum seekers currently in the city’s care, we need additional support from state and federal partners.”

While racing at Aqueduct has been on the decline, one of the state’s cash cows — the Genting NY-Resorts World casino — is located next to the race track and attracts gamblers who use the parking lots there.

That could potentially complicate use of the site as a migrant encampment.

Many of Queens’ hotel airports — particularly those near JFK and LaGuardia — have already been converted into migrant shelters.

Richards said his borough has been doing its part in aiding the asylum seekers, but the Adams ally also emphasized there must be better coordination and communication between City Hall and Queens elected officials.

“I understand we are in a crisis. I’m not playing the NIMBY game here,” Richards said, referring to the acronym for the phrase “not in my backyard,” used to refer to people who oppose undesirable developments in their neighborhoods.

Hochul shooting down Aqueduct Race Track

Queens Chronicle 

The 128-year-old Aqueduct Race Track appears to be heading into the home stretch, according to Gov. Hochul's 2023-24 executive budget proposal.

Hochul’s proposal for the fiscal year beginning April 1 includes $455 million in capital spending for the redevelopment of Belmont Racetrack, located just the other side of the Cross Island Parkway in Nassau County.

A report on the website casino.org on Wednesday stated that the move could lead to the land being used for construction of a casino right next to the Resorts World New York City in Ozone Park.

“The [Belmont] project will result in the creation of new tracks and parking as well as the construction of a new clubhouse,” according to an entry on page 33 of Hochul’s briefing book. “This project will facilitate the move of Aqueduct racing to Belmont, allowing the State to repurpose the Aqueduct property.”

The document does not offer timelines. It goes on to say that the New York Racing Association will repay the state for the entire cost of the project.

The New York Racing Association, in a statement on its Twitter page on Wednesday, thanked Hochul for supporting the Belmont rebuild, but made no mention of Aqueduct.

Aqueduct first opened in September 1894.

Racino royale

 

Queens Chronicle

When Resorts World Casino opened 10 years ago, “the naysayers thought the apocalypse was coming,” recalled state Sen. Joe Addabbo Jr. (D-Howard Beach). “And they find, 10 years later, that was the furthest it could have been from the truth.”

Resorts World New York City, the only casino in the city, celebrated its 10th anniversary on Oct. 28, a celebration preceded by the August grand opening of the new luxury hotel, Hyatt Regency JFK Airport.

On Oct. 29, a celebration was held with about 45 elected officials, community leaders, nonprofits and Resorts World staff.

“It was an opportunity for us to share our gratitude and thanks to them for all of the support that they’ve shown Resorts World New York City over the last ten years,” said Meghan Taylor, vice president of government affairs and public relations at Genting Americas Inc., which operates the casino.

Addabbo recalled residents’ initial concerns over crime, gambling, prostitution and traffic but said they did not come to fruition.

“Yes, there were issues with traffic early on and we addressed them,” he said.

Addressing addiction remains a priority, he added.

“It was a major milestone to have a casino of its type here, the first of its kind in the city. It is certainly a feather in the cap and something to admire for the borough of Queens,” said Addabbo, who was on Community Board 10 when officials were working to save the Aqueduct Race Track.

The South Ozone Park casino and hotel neighbors Aqueduct, which the “racino” is credited for keeping afloat 10 years ago. It was decided at the time that the casino could exist only if Aqueduct remained open.

Luxury hotel opens up in Aqueduct parking lot.

Queens Chronicle 

 Resorts World New York City officially opened the Hyatt Regency JFK Airport hotel to guests last Friday.

The ribbon cutting for the new hotel featured executives from Genting, which owns the hotel and casino, and Hyatt, as well as elected officials and community leaders.

“We are excited to debut the Hyatt Regency JFK Airport at Resorts World New York and invite guests to experience our intuitive hospitality as they relax and recharge after a day of gaming, dining and entertainment,” said Brian Reynolds, senior vice president of Resorts World NYC.

The Genting Group made waves when it made clear last year that it planned to push ahead with its plans to open a $400 million, 400-room hotel at the Queens Resorts World location while the hotel industry was in the middle of a bleak market outlook at the apex of the pandemic.

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards called the opening a huge step forward in Queens’ comeback.

“We couldn’t be more excited to welcome the world-class Hyatt at Resorts World NYC — as well as the job opportunities it’s created — to The World’s Borough. Further proof that Queens is open for business and leading the way,” he tweeted.

Swanky...

South Queens, home of the highest COVID positive cases in the city, finally gets a vaccination site

 

Queens Chronicle

Vaccines are coming to New York City’s top Covid hot spot: South Ozone Park.

The new vaccination center at the Aqueduct Race Track, the sole state-run site announced in Queens, will bring much-needed relief to the neighborhood, which currently has the highest positivity rate of all New York City ZIP codes at 15.94 percent as of Friday. 

Its two adjacent ZIP codes in Ozone Park and Richmond Hill have the second- and third-highest rates in the city.

The distribution site will open on Monday, and will fill a void left in the surging heart of the second wave left by the city’s vaccination sites, which do not extend into South Queens west of the Van Wyck Expressway. Community leaders in South Queens, who had been watching the positivity rate increase at an alarming rate for months, have been critical of the mayor’s decision not to include Richmond Hill or South Ozone Park on his list of priority neighborhoods.

The new site’s announcement, however, left some residents confused because it does not show up on the city’s Covid site map, leading them to wonder whether they were eligible. It seems to be the latest in a gap of communication between the city and state’s vaccination efforts.

In a meeting of the Ozone Park Residents Block Association and Cityline Ozone Park Civilian Patrol on Thursday night, President Sam Esposito said that the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Queens community liaison did not have the eligibility information on the site when he had asked him about it.

“The mayor and the governor have to get on the same page because when they argue we get hurt. And that’s not right,” said State Sen. Joe Addabbo Jr. (D-Howard Beach) at the meeting, who added that his office had received inaccurate information about the vaccination efforts as well.

Luxury hotel coming soon to Resorts World

 

NY Post

This is a real gamble.

Many New York hotels are sitting largely empty because of lost business due to the coronavirus pandemic.

But the owner of Resorts World Casino NYC at Aqueduct in Queens announced plans Monday to open a new $400 million Hyatt Regency-run hotel next to its gambling facility, which is located near JFK airport.

The hotel will be called Hyatt Regency JFK at Resorts World New York

Malaysian-based Genting Americas always envisioned opening a hotel adjacent to its casino when it opened a decade ago. The casino sits next to Aqueduct race track.

Genting’s strong global ties — particularly in Asia — could help woo more customers from JFK airport to its casino resort.

Resorts World at Aqueduct also has been severely impacted by the COVID-outbreak, having been forced to close for months and then only allowed to reopen at limited capacity.

The plan calls for an eight-story, 400-room, “four-star” hotel to open in 2021.

The hotel will also include new restaurants, state-of-the-art conference and meeting spaces, retail stores, and additional gaming areas.

Aqueduct triage hospital gone to waste

Queens Chronicle

 A temporary 1,000-bed hospital that Gov. Cuomo and the White House agreed would be built on the grounds of Aqueduct Race Track in preparation for an overflow of CODVID-19 patients will not be built, according to a tweet from reporter Zack Fink of NY1.

Fink reported that the Aqueduct site and others in the other outer boroughs will not be built as their capacity no longer appears to be needed to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.

Cuomo’s office and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did not respond to numerous requests from the Chronicle for comment on the status of the Aqueduct hospital site over the last week.

The triage hospital at Aqueduct and 7 others are still not open for coronavirus patients

How is this going to flatten the curve?

Governor Cuomo calls the Army to build a hospital at Aqueduct

 

LIC Post

 

 Governor Andrew Cuomo is calling for a 100,000-square-foot temporary hospital to be built at the site of Queens Aqueduct Racetrack.

The governor is working to increase hospital capacity as the number of cases of coronavirus continues to increase across the state. There are now more than 44,000 cases statewide, Cuomo said today, and 25,573 cases across the five boroughs — as of 8:30 a.m. this morning.

“With COVID-19 spreading quickly, our number one priority is expanding hospital capacity,” Cuomo said on Twitter.

The governor will ask President Donald Trump to authorize the Army Corps of Engineers to build the temporary facility at the Aqueduct today, he said.

The state’s normal hospital capacity is 53,000 beds and needs to get to about 140,000 beds at the apex of the coronavirus pandemic, which is expected to hit in about 21 days.

The Aqueduct, along with an additional hospital site being scouted in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Staten Island, would add another 4,000 beds to the state’s capacity.

Cuomo said he wanted each borough to have its own overflow facility. Manhattan was the first borough to get a temporary 1,000-bed hospital inside the Jacob Javits Center, where the governor delivered his daily press briefing today.

 If President Trump gives the go-ahead, construction should take around 10 days, Cuomo said.

Aqueduct Station elevator run by Resorts World never works.

Photo by Jose Martinez/The City

The City

 A parts problem was to blame for problems at the Aqueduct Racetrack stop on the A train — whose privately maintained elevator was available just 33.5% of the time in the first three months of 2019 because of broken glass.

“That’s not a good number,” said Cynthia Lewis of Queens, a regular at the Resorts World Casino New York City at Aqueduct. “They should work harder to make sure it works all the time.”

“They don’t even fix the slot machines,” said another woman at the subway station, who asked to be identified only as Leslie. “Why should they fix their elevator?”

 But global casino king Genting — which operates Resorts World Casino New York City and maintains the elevator — had to order custom-made glass before the elevator could resume transporting riders between the platform and a parking lot. The company says MTA specifications are to blame.

“Accessibility to our facility is a key priority and we monitor this elevator closely to ensure it is providing the service to those who need it,” a spokesperson for Resorts World Casino told THE CITY. “As soon as the MTA alerts us to an issue, we immediately dispatch a maintenance crew, which helps to keep it in service.”

Queensway compromise?

From the Queens Chronicle:

The Regional Plan Association isn’t choosing the QueensWay over the Queens Rail, or vice versa.

Instead, the transportation think tank has partially endorsed both ideas for the abandoned 3.5-mile Rockaway Beach Rail Line.

In its Fourth Regional Plan, issued late last month, the RPA called for the creation of the QueensWay — a proposed park along the elevated right-of-way — between Rego Park and Woodhaven.

From Atlantic Avenue south into Ozone Park, the RPA has endorsed the reactivation of train service along the defunct line.

Under the Fourth Regional Plan, the Queens Rail would run between Atlantic Avenue and Kennedy Airport with a stop near Aqueduct Race Track in between.

At Atlantic Avenue, the service would connect to the Long Island Rail Road’s Atlantic Branch — which itself would be extended west from Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn into Manhattan.

That would give train proponents that 30-minute one-seat ride from Manhattan to JFK many have advocated for.

Resorts World about to expand

From 1010WINS:

The Resorts World Casino in Queens has broken ground on a $400-million expansion.

First opened in 2011 in the retrofitted grandstand of Aqueduct Race Track the all-electronic casino already attracts more than 10-million visitors a year. It’s enough success, Casino President Scott Molina said, for the Malaysian conglomerate that owns it to invest another $400-million into it.

The two year project will include a new 400 room, four star hotel, and four new restaurants.

Resorts World plans to expand

From the Wall Street Journal:

Resorts World Casino at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens wants to spend an estimated $400 million to add 1,000 video-lottery terminals and build a new hotel and convention complex.

The proposal includes adding a 400-room hotel, a 20,000-square-foot spa and resort, at least 140,000 square feet of convention and meeting space, plus additional room for food, retail and casino expansion.

The plan, which would expand the Resorts World Casino footprint at Aqueduct by an estimated 750,000 square feet, was outlined June 27 to the New York state Franchise Oversight Board by Resorts World Casino President Ryan Eller.

If all goes to plan, Mr. Eller told the board, the complex would open in April 2019.

The additional video-lottery terminals would come on top of the 5,500 electronic gambling machines of varying types already at Resorts World.

A spokesman for Resorts World said the expansion would be built on the west side of the existing casino, a space now covered by a parking lot.

Drone footage of Queens locations

Katz not yet sold on Aqueduct soccer stadium

From the Queens Chronicle:

Aqueduct soccer stadium bandwagon — at least not yet.

At Community Board 10 last Thursday in South Ozone Park, Katz said she “likes the idea” of a Major League Soccer stadium in Queens, but had “deep reservations” about siting it at Aqueduct, which she said is not easily accessible from other parts of the city.

“We have a 90 percent increase in subway ridership right there,” she said. “It takes a long time to get there, and during rush hour it’s worse. There’s infrastructure and access issues.”

Katz’s concerns echo those of many in the community who feel Aqueduct Race Track is not easily accessible by car or public transportation.

“I think it’s good for us, it’ll bring tourism in. I think there’s a response from folks here with a deep interest for that,” Katz said of a stadium in Queens, but noted that even from her own house in Forest Hills, getting to Aqueduct would be rough.

She did not offer any other potential sites. The stadium plan, which would be home to MLS expansion franchise New York City Football Club, was originally proposed for Flushing Meadows Corona Park, before being moved to the Bronx when the New York Yankees took a 20 percent share of the team. NYCFC begins playing at Yankee Stadium next year.

But a Bronx deal was not worked out, and Aqueduct was the next idea to be floated.

The end of Queens horse racing?

From the Queens Chronicle:

Several sources have confirmed that demolition of Aqueduct Race Track for a new soccer stadium is not off the table.
It was announced last month that Major League Soccer was looking at Aqueduct as a site for a soccer-specific stadium to host the New York City Football Club, an expansion team that will begin playing next year at Yankee Stadium.

“The discussions leave open the possibility of the racetrack being torn down and the stadium being built on that site,” one high-level source said. “[The New York Racing Association] would make Belmont Racetrack a year-round venue and hold winter racing there.”

The source did say, however, that is not the most likely or desired option, noting that the favored choice is to build the stadium on top of lightly used parking fields owned by the city on the southern end of the Aqueduct site, near the Belt Parkway.

But building a stadium even on the 20 acres of city property currently leased by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey would require going over some hurdles.

During a Uniform Land Use Review Procedure in 2004 dealing with PANYNJ property leased from the city in Queens, Community Boards 10 and 12 suggested forcing the plots of land at Aqueduct that includes those lots to go through ULURP in the event they are proposed to be used for anything other than parking.

The ULURP would require public hearings and approval from Borough President Melinda Katz, the City Planning Commission and the City Council.

Should something go awry with that option, the track proposal could emerge as a backup plan.

The track itself is on state-owned land, which would require state approval to both demolish the track and build the stadium.

What Resorts World must resort to

From Crains:

The jackpot at Resorts World Casino is a little leaner these days—though not for gamblers.

The 36-month-old racino at Aqueduct Raceway in Queens has enjoyed a run of record-breaking revenue and double-digit annual growth. But during the past year, its growth has slowed, just as its owner, Malaysia-based Genting Americas, is hoping to be approved by the state for a $1.5 billion luxury resort and casino in Tuxedo.

Resorts World's revenue this fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2015, will increase by "high single digits," compared with a 14% growth rate in the previous fiscal year, said Christian Goode, senior vice president of development for Genting Americas. Last fiscal year, it generated $792 million in revenue, of which $618.2 million went to paying fees and to Albany in the form of gambling taxes.

"Double-digit growth is simply not sustainable, but whether we get [a casino upstate], our efforts are full steam ahead in Queens," he added. "There is more we can do there."

Resorts World has not been as successful tapping into the robust tourism industry in the Big Apple as it would have liked. The vast majority of its customers are locals from Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island. To attract more visitors, Mr. Goode is considering developing a hotel near John F. Kennedy International Airport—one that would offer better amenities than the existing budget airport properties—and help the casino capture international travelers, who would be shuttled directly to Aqueduct.

Resorts World is raking in the dough

From WPIX:

There is no Roman facade. There are no Venetian gondolas. Nor do they have a volcano out front.

Yet, inside of an architecturally simple structure in Queens is the most explosive casino in all of North America, Resorts World Casino.

“From a slot operation standpoint it’s phenomenal. This is the highest grossing slot operation in really the entire world, not just North America,” said Ed Farrell, president of the casino operation.

Six months after opening in the fall of 2011, with very little fanfare, Resorts World Casino became the most productive slot operation in the nation. Its strategy was simple. To target the culturally diverse neighborhoods around it according to Farrell. “It really caters a lot to the locals. Most of our business is from Queens and Long Island, and Brooklyn and close to here, but being so close to JFK we also do get a little bit of business from those people that are coming in from out of town.”