Billionaire New York Mets owner Steve Cohen might get his Willets Point casino after all.
Cohen's scheme to build the $8 billion Metropolitan Park megadevelopment atop the parking lots that surround Citi Field received two big positive pieces of news, bringing the project closer to fruition than it's ever been since first proposed.
The obstacles blocking Cohen's casino progress have long been multi-pronged. The parking lots he wants to build on are technically considered parkland by New York State and require action taken by the state legislature to clear the way for their redevelopment.
That necessary legislative action looked to be a non-starter, as the New York State Senator representing the land intended for Metropolitan Park, Jessica Ramos, said publicly in May 2024 that she would not introduce the bill needed to get Cohen his clearance to build the casino.
This week, though, a different New York State Senator – John C. Liu, from Queens, but not the Senator for the area around Citi Field – came forward and proposed the bill Cohen needs to pass in the State Senate to make Metropolitan Park happen.
This legislative support from Liu comes weeks after all the zoning changes needed for Metropolitan Park received final approvals from the New York City Council, completing Metropolitan Park's journey through the city's Uniform Land Use and Review Procedure, or ULURP – an acronym to stir memories for those who remember it fondly from the days following New York City FC's soccer stadium progress through it.
Does this mean it's a done deal and Cohen's Metropolitan Park will join New York City FC's Etihad Park as part of a wildly reimagined Valley of Ashes? Not exactly, but lots of signs now point to the billionaire financier getting his way and getting his casino.
Oliver Strand
Shifting political winds
John C. Liu is one of many Queens politicians to come out in favor of Metropolitan Park in the time since Senator Ramos made her opposition official and public in May 2024.
The development, anchored by a new Hard Rock casino but also expected to include a live music venue, restaurants, a hotel, and acres of new green space, now boasts public support from the likes of Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, City Councilman Francisco Moya, and Assemblywoman Larinda Hooks.
Hooks counts as one of the most important supporters of that group. She needed to introduce her own bill to convert the Citi Field parking lots for commercial development in the New York State Assembly, matching the one Senator Liu introduced in the State Senate – a step Assemblywoman Hooks took on March 21.
Now with bills introduced in both state legislative chambers to "alienate" the Citi Field parkland so it can be redeveloped, the political reality has changed for Cohen's casino plan.
Jessica Ramos seemed to hold the veto over Metropolitan Park, but that may no longer be the case. Ramos for her part is in the middle of an ongoing campaign for Mayor of New York City. The Senator has not indicated she's changed her position on Metropolitan Park, and it would be somewhat unprecedented for that pro-Metropolitan Park legislation to advance over the objections of the State Senator who represents Metropolitan Park.
Ramos's office gave a statement to Gothamist that read in part, "My position has not changed...I cannot support a casino in Corona and am a definitive no on any alienation bill that goes against my neighbors' wishes." Liu, for his part, said of Ramos, "I am close to Jessica, and I know her principled position is based on feedback from her constituents. Similarly, my intent to advance any enabling legislation is based on feedback I received from constituents. Some opposed but far more in favor."
Yet Cohen has assembled a whole retinue of local elected officials now positioned to get his casino across the finish line. The support of BP Richards and Francisco Moya already helped the project circumnavigate ULURP, a dynamic Hudson River Blue readers might be familiar with from seeing each politician play a big role in the approval of NYCFC's soccer stadium.
Casino license wild card
One huge variable remains for Metropolitan Park: The awarding of the license needed to open the development's new casino.
The New York State Gaming Commission is expected to award up to three casino licenses to bidders in the "downstate" region by the end of 2025 – though two of those licenses are expected to go to a pair of existing partial-licensees, Empire City in Yonkers and to Resorts World in Southeastern Queens.
There's been a massive and years-long bidding war in the realm of political lobbying among all the groups trying to secure that one remaining casino license. According to recent financial disclosures, six of the top 10 spenders on political lobbying of the New York City government last year were entities vying for one of those casino licenses.
The downstate competition for Cohen's Willets Point casino includes four proposals in Manhattan at sites in Hudson Yards, Times Square, near the Javits Center, and along the East River near the United Nations, plus one proposal in Uniondale on Long Island at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Crucially, Cohen has always insisted that his project is all-or-nothing: Metropolitan Park will only get built if the project receives that sought-after casino license. The billionaire has poured millions of dollars into trying to win over community and political influences, but he still needs one more card to go his way to complete his proverbial flush.
What it means for NYCFC
New York City FC and its executives have never publicly weighed in, pro or con, on the proposal for redeveloping the Citi Field parking lots they have a contractual agreement to share on matchdays once Etihad Park opens in 2027.
Some drama between NYCFC, its developer partners, and Steve Cohen at one time looked like it could threaten to screw up the soccer stadium plans – back when Cohen was putting the word out that he opposed the stadium, wouldn't share his parking lots with it, and wanted Metropolitan Park to be joined at the hip to the Willets Point Phase II development that included the soccer stadium.
Instead, NYCFC and the Mets struck a deal to allow NYCFC match attendees to park at Citi Field. Even though the team hasn't addressed it directly, they have a vested interest in whether or not Metropolitan Park happens, given the parking lot connection plus the proximity between Etihad Park and the new $8 billion development.
Parking scarcity on future NYCFC matchdays shouldn't be a problem if the casino comes to be, however. According to a review of documents by Hell Gate in December, Metropolitan Park will nearly double the number of available parking spaces around Citi Field through the construction of new parking garages.
Less promising, though, is that Hell Gate also reports Metropolitan Park is expected to contribute to "significant traffic" increases in the area. Speaking of that area, just how well-equipped will Willets Point be on the infrastructure side to handle its new identity?
There will be an influx of thousands of new residents to the area thanks to the affordable housing built as part of Willets Point Phases I and II. There's going to be a new school, plus a third professional stadium once Etihad Park is complete in 2027.
Add to that an entirely new entertainment district in Metropolitan Park and you are packing huge numbers of people into a corner of Queens that was long desolate and only visited by big numbers when the Mets or US Open tennis were in season.
Part of Cohen's proposal for Metropolitan Park includes a drastic renovation and upgrade of the No 7 subway station at Mets-Willets Point, as well as the construction of a "skypark" that's somewhat like Manhattan's High Line and connects Metropolitan Park with nearby Downtown Flushing so it's easier to travel between the two points of interest for pedestrians and cyclists.
If Metropolitan Park comes to be, it's not expected to open until "sometime in Q1 or Q2 of 2030," according to a recent Sports Business Journal report. Yet construction could start as soon as January 2026, so heading to any event in Willets Point in the next few years could mean visiting a highly active, multi-faceted construction zone – construction that might even impact the reliability of the public transit fans are always encouraged to use when visiting this corner of the World's Borough.
We know that ground has broken on the soccer stadium across from Citi Field – pilings are in, according to both Brad Sims and this user's photo on Twitter – but we still don't know just how different the area around that stadium will look in a few years, or how easy or difficult it will be to visit when there's soccer to see.
For now, the wait continues to see if Steve Cohen will once again be able to flex his financial muscle and get his way. It worked with Juan Soto, now we'll see if he can repeat the trick with his long-sought-after casino.
Andrew Leigh
