Senator Ramos kills Cohen's casino

 

 Queens Chronicle

After more than a year of deliberation, state Sen. Jessica Ramos (D-Jackson Heights) on Tuesday announced that she will not be introducing the legislation necessary to make way for Mets owner Steve Cohen to build a casino next to Citi Field. 

Instead, she is introducing her own plan.

“We’re not in a place to host a casino,” Ramos told New York magazine, which first reported the decision Tuesday morning. “The people who are here, they’re hoping to build generational wealth. And I just don’t see how a casino helps us meet that goal. I mean, it’s literally the opposite. It’s the extraction of the very little wealth we have.”

In a statement, she elaborated, “Whether people rallied for or against Metropolitan Park, I heard the same dreams for Corona. We want investment and opportunity, we are desperate for green space, and recreation for the whole family.

“We disagree on the premise that we have to accept a casino in our backyard as the trade-off. I resent the conditions and the generations of neglect that have made many of us so desperate that we would be willing to settle.”

Since the parking lot at the stadium is legally parkland, in order for anything to be built at the site, the state Legislature must pass parkland alienation legislation allowing the spot to be used for that purpose, be it a casino or otherwise. While Assemblyman Jeff Aubry (D-Corona) had introduced that legislation to back a casino as part of Cohen’s Metropolitan Park plan — which would include a casino, a hotel, 25 acres of green space, a concert hall and a Queens food hall — Ramos had not, and said Tuesday she will not do so. Aubry did not immediately respond to the Chronicle’s request for comment on the matter. 

The senator’s alternative plan, parkland alienation legislation that she introduced Tuesday, essentially includes Cohen’s entire proposal, minus the casino. Instead of 25 acres of green space, she’s calling for 50 acres. 

Ramos’ decision follows several town halls on the issue over the last year and a half, some of which she has hosted and others of which Cohen has. The senator also conducted a poll on the project within her district, which found that 75 percent were opposed to a casino; Cohen’s own poll, meanwhile, showed that 62 percent were in favor of one, with 75 percent backing the plan as a whole.

Throughout the process, Cohen and his chief of staff, Michael Sullivan, have been adamant that the project cannot go forward without a casino, saying there would be no year-round economic driver for the complex without it. But Ramos called that idea into question while speaking with reporters via Zoom Tuesday afternoon. 

“Cohen is worth an estimated $18 billion-plus, to my estimation, and so math would dictate that a casino would not be necessary to build out any part of the remaining project,” the senator said. “My hope is that he sees that people are counting on him to do the right thing here. He will remain our neighbor as long as he is the owner of the Mets, and he can gain trust and good public will by being responsive to our neighbors’ desires.”

When the Chronicle asked Aubry about Ramos’ desire for Cohen to foot the bill without a casino, the assemblyman cut in, “Stop. Just stop.”

“She isn’t hoping that they would — she’s only trying to cover up so that no one will blame her that she has denied the kind of real benefits that the community would get if the whole plan is going,” Aubry said. “You don’t take out the money-generating portion of this plan, and then say, ‘Oh, well, do everything else.’”

Meanwhile, Cohen’s camp still thinks a casino is the only way to build anything financially feasible at the site, which the team has under lease for another 81 years. Asked whether Cohen and his team will consider Ramos’ proposal, Karl Rickett, a spokesperson for the project, told the Chronicle, “Year-round entertainment is core to any realistic vision for this area, and casino gaming is that economic engine. So it’s an absolutely critical part of this process.”

As such, per Rickett’s statement, Cohen and his team “remain committed” to making Metropolitan Park a reality, and to getting the parkland alienation and one of three downstate casino licenses the state Gaming Commission will award in 2025.