{"id":3462,"date":"2025-05-28T10:53:27","date_gmt":"2025-05-28T10:53:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casinousa.com\/news\/?p=3462"},"modified":"2025-05-28T10:53:27","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T10:53:27","slug":"state-senate-clears-key-hurdle-for-citi-field-casino-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casinousa.com\/news\/state-senate-clears-key-hurdle-for-citi-field-casino-plan","title":{"rendered":"State Senate Clears Key Hurdle for Citi Field Casino Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.casinousa.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/proposed-hard-rock-metropolitan-park-project.jpg\" alt=\"Proposed Hard Rock Metropolitan Park project\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-3463\" width=\"300\" title=\"State Senate Clears Key Hurdle for Citi Field Casino Plan\" \/><strong>Summary: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The State Senate voted to reclassify parkland near Citi Field, advancing Steve Cohen and Hard Rock\u2019s $8 billion casino project.<\/li>\n<li>The plan still faces community opposition and competition for one of three downstate casino licenses.<\/li>\n<li>The bill now awaits Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s decision, with no clear indication of her support.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Steve Cohen<\/strong>\u2019s vision for a massive casino and entertainment district next to Citi Field just cleared a major hurdle in Albany. On Tuesday, the <strong>New York State Senate voted 54-5 to allow New York City to reclassify 50 acres of asphalt lots<\/strong> surrounding the Mets\u2019 stadium. <\/p>\n<p>The legislation is key to moving <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casinousa.com\/news\/new-york-mets-owner-steve-cohen-adds-8bn-to-community-investment-in-casino-proposal\">Cohen\u2019s $8 billion proposal forward<\/a>. The joint venture with Hard Rock International includes a casino, hotels, green space, and a High Line-style pedestrian bridge connecting Downtown Flushing to Willets Point.<\/p>\n<p>The land currently serves as parking for Citi Field but is technically designated as public parkland. For any private development to proceed, state lawmakers had to vote in favor of \u201c<em>alienating<\/em>\u201d that land, a legal process that frees it up for non-park use. <\/p>\n<p>The bill, already passed by the Assembly earlier this month, now heads to <strong>Governor Kathy Hochul<\/strong> for a decision.<\/p>\n<p>Cohen and Hard Rock\u2019s <strong>proposal includes turning 20 of the 50 acres into a true public park<\/strong>, a gesture aimed at appeasing critics and meeting the bill\u2019s requirements.<\/p>\n<p>Cohen said in a statement,<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>After years of community engagement, thousands of conversations, and the leadership of our local elected officials, we are one step closer to transforming these asphalt lots into something our neighbors can truly be proud of<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Even with this legislative win, Cohen faces stiff competition, as his project is one of nine vying for just three available downstate casino licenses. The final decisions will be made by the <a href=\"https:\/\/gaming.ny.gov\">New York State Gaming Commission<\/a> later this year.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"project-opponents-are-still-vocal\">Project Opponents Are Still Vocal<\/h2>\n<p>This step forward follows an expensive, years-long lobbying effort. Cohen and his team reportedly spent over $3.3 million on consultants, many of whom are former city and state officials.<\/p>\n<p>As expected, opposition to the project remains vocal. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Alexis Kaloyanides<\/strong>, a Jackson Heights resident and organizer, criticized the vote, saying: <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I think the message it sends is that our elected leaders are more in line with a billionaire developer than they are the working-class neighbors in our community. That\u2019s the bottom line.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Last year, the plan stalled after local <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.casinousa.com\/news\/queens-state-senator-jessica-ramos-pressured-to-support-metropolitan-park-near-citi-field\">Senator Jessica Ramos<\/a><\/strong> withheld support. While Ramos still opposes the casino, calling it a symbol of \u201c<em>power<\/em>\u201d over partnership during the Senate vote, support from <strong>Senator John Liu<\/strong> helped move the bill this time around. Liu argued the project would \u201c<em>create thousands of jobs for local residents and opportunities for local small businesses<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Governor Hochul has not yet indicated her stance, with a spokesperson only indicating that she will review the legislation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Summary: The State Senate voted to reclassify parkland near Citi Field, advancing Steve Cohen and Hard Rock\u2019s $8 billion casino project. The plan still faces community opposition and competition for one of three downstate casino licenses. The bill now awaits Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s decision, with no clear indication of her support. Steve Cohen\u2019s vision for [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,5,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-industry","category-legal"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>State Senate Clears Key Hurdle for Citi Field Casino Plan<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Steve Cohen\u2019s proposed casino near Citi Field moved forward following a crucial vote in Albany; challenges remain from both rivals and local critics.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casinousa.com\/news\/state-senate-clears-key-hurdle-for-citi-field-casino-plan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"State Senate Clears Key Hurdle for Citi Field Casino Plan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Steve Cohen\u2019s proposed casino near Citi Field moved forward following a crucial vote in Albany; challenges remain from both rivals and local critics.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casinousa.com\/news\/state-senate-clears-key-hurdle-for-citi-field-casino-plan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CasinoUSA News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-28T10:53:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casinousa.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/proposed-hard-rock-metropolitan-park-project.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"380\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sadonna Price\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sadonna Price\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casinousa.com\/news\/state-senate-clears-key-hurdle-for-citi-field-casino-plan\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casinousa.com\/news\/state-senate-clears-key-hurdle-for-citi-field-casino-plan\",\"name\":\"State Senate Clears Key Hurdle for Citi Field Casino Plan\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casinousa.com\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casinousa.com\/news\/state-senate-clears-key-hurdle-for-citi-field-casino-plan#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casinousa.com\/news\/state-senate-clears-key-hurdle-for-citi-field-casino-plan#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casinousa.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/proposed-hard-rock-metropolitan-park-project.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-28T10:53:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casinousa.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d3abd52bb9d75eb130cd63cd605c76c0\"},\"description\":\"Steve Cohen\u2019s proposed casino near Citi Field moved forward following a crucial vote in Albany; 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