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There’s been a lot of talk about building casinos around NYC lately—in Coney Island, in Times Square and at Hudson Yards, but only one of these ideas has secured the support of New Yorkers so far.
Metropolitan Park, an $8 billion idea to bring a casino and entertainment complex to parking lot at Citi Field in Queens by Mets owner Steve Cohen and Hard Rock Entertainment, just garnered the support of the New York City Council. During its Uniform Land Use Review Procedure last week, the City Council voted 41-2 to change the zoning to make way for the project, according to Gothamist.
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“I'm ecstatic at the opportunity of finally turning huge swaths of often vacant pavement into usable recreational space,” said councilmember Francisco Moya last week.
If you haven’t heard, the new entertainment complex would include the casino, restaurants and a hotel, as well as 5 acres of athletic fields, cycling paths and playgrounds and improved accessibility to the Mets-Willets subway station. It’d also be home to a "Taste of Queens" food hall with local vendors that would also function as a live music venue. All in all, the proposed project would cost $8 billion and could create 23,000 permanent and temporary jobs in the borough, its proponents say.
Of course, there’s still more to do before the project gets the green light. It still needs to get through the state Legislature’s casino license review process this year, according to Gothamist. The state’s Gaming Facility Location Board, will also need to review each proposal (of which there are currently 11 for the metro area) and then the proposals will need to go through a Community Advisory Committee review.
For now though, it looks promising for this Queens project.