MIDTOWN — Gaming officials on Dec. 1 voted to recommend approval for three new casinos in the New York metropolitan area, including the $8 billion entertainment complex next to Citi Field in Flushing.
The vote by the New York State Gaming Facility Board, held at the CUNY Graduate Center in Midtown, Manhattan, is the “second-to-last step” in a multi-year schedule to award licensing for three downstate casinos.
Now it is up to the state’s Gaming Commission to decide whether to award the licenses, which is expected by the end of the year.
If the licenses are approved, it will no doubt be a merrier holiday season for Mets owner Steve Cohen and his partner, Hard Rock International, who aim to bring gambling and other activities to a 50-acre parking lot next to Citi Field.
Their proposed “Metropolitan Park” would blend green spaces alongside the casino, a food hall, and a permanent soccer stadium for the New York City Football Club, which is currently under construction.
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Meanwhile, those not feeling merry are opponents of Metropolitan Park, including Aimee Rosato of the community group, Jackson Heights Indivisible. The group is part of the FED-UP Coalition, which includes other groups from Elmhurst, Corona, and Flushing.
Rosato is a member of Immaculate Conception Parish in Astoria. She referred to Pope Leo XIV’s first apostolic exhortation, “Dilexi te,” which warns against exploiting the poor and mistreating immigrants. In that message, he also included online gambling on a slate of new “social ills.”
Rosato noted that Catholic bishops in New York went on record 12 years ago to warn about the dangers of gambling. She called upon the bishops to do likewise regarding the pending down-state licenses.
“The social costs warned of by the bishops in 2013 are even more dire today, compounded by online sports betting,” Rosato said. “Inspired by Dorothy Day’s reminder that we must prevent social evils rather than merely remedy them, I urge Catholic leadership to go on record against these proposals.
“To remain silent is to allow billionaire lobbyists to impose a regressive tax on our communities for decades to come.”
Conversely, Cohen and company tout Metropolitan Park as a potential generator of billions of dollars in tax revenues, 23,000 union jobs, and more than $1 billion in community benefits.
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The other projects approved Dec. 1 by the Gaming Facility Board are the Resorts World New York City casino, a project developed by Gentling New York LLC, also in Queens, and the Bally’s Bronx, a resort planned by the Bally’s Corporation.
Resorts World’s $3.3 billion development would convert space at the Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park from a video lottery terminal into a full-blown casino.
Bally’s Bronx is a $2.3 billion combined casino and resort located at Bally’s Golf Links at Ferry Point in the Bronx.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement that when the three downstate casino licenses were authorized in the 2022 state budget, she insisted that the winning projects must demonstrate “real benefits” to their surrounding communities “and have sustainable economic plans.”
“The three projects approved today promise to unlock billions in funding,” she said, “and create tens of thousands of jobs. It is critical that they keep those promises.”