Steve Cohen’s aggressive quest to build a casino next to Citi Field in the New York borough of Queens suffered a potentially fatal blow Tuesday, as a local state senator announced she would refuse to back a bill that his plan requires.
Cohen's $8 billion proposal for a gambling complex, hotel, concert hall and park space on the parking lot west of Citi Field has hinged since its inception on the support of state Sen. Jessica Ramos. Because the parking lot is technically city parkland, the billionaire hedge-funder and New York Mets owner Cohen must persuade both the state Senate and Assembly to pass a bill to “alienate” the parkland and allow development.
But Ramos, who has withheld her support for over a year as she gathered community feedback, announced on Tuesday that she “will not introduce legislation” for the casino, saying she wanted the site to be developed without it.
“I resent the conditions and the generations of neglect that have made many of us so desperate that we would be willing to settle,” Ramos said in a statement, released shortly after a New York magazine article revealed her decision. Ramos also said she would introduce a new bill that would alienate the parkland, but only for a convention center, hotel and park — a compromise that Cohen’s team has already said would make the project nonviable economically.
A spokesman for Cohen’s project, known as Metropolitan Park, remained upbeat Tuesday. Karl Rickett said in a statement that while the project team respects Ramos’ point of view, “the state never intended any one person to have the ability to single-handedly stop or approve a gaming project.”
With the deadline to apply for a downstate casino license now delayed until 2025, Cohen’s team — which has enlisted a whopping 10 lobbying firms, dwarfing the competition — has time to try to make a deal to win Ramos back. The other option would be finding a way around Ramos, but two people closely monitoring the process told Crain’s New York Business on Tuesday that it is highly unlikely that state Senate leaders would defy the Albany tradition of deferring to local members on land-use questions — and publicly burn Ramos on an issue of such high importance.
“As Metropolitan Park enjoys overwhelming support from elected officials, unions and the local community, we are confident that we have the best project in the best location,” Rickett said. “We have over a year and multiple pathways to secure the required approvals. Our team remains committed to bringing Metropolitan Park to life, with gaming as the only viable economic engine to make the 23,000 jobs, $8 billion investment and substantial community benefits possible.”
Asked whether she was open to any future deal with Cohen, Ramos said during a press conference later Tuesday afternoon that “at this given point in time, I don't feel that I can be convinced to allow parkland alienation for the purposes of a casino.”
Ramos acknowledged that Cohen could try to find a way around her but said she would be “surprised and offended” if Senate majority leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins allowed that to happen.
“I would think that the majority leader would be very wary of creating such a precedent in our house, where a member of the supermajority conference is ignored and bypassed in order to allow someone to profit off of their constituents,” Ramos said.
As Ramos’ decision neared, Cohen’s team in recent weeks had upped the pressure on her, rolling out letters from neighboring elected officials and labor unions — with whom Ramos is typically cozy — urging her to green-light the bill. Both Ramos and Cohen touted their own polls showing opposition and support, respectively, for the casino.
Among those pressuring Ramos was Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry, who also represents the casino site and blindsided Ramos by introducing Cohen’s desired bill last year without her knowledge. One person closely monitoring the process argued that Cohen’s team appeared to misjudge their ability to muscle Ramos, citing another instance in which Cohen seemed to upstage her by announcing a $1 billion community benefits package on the same night she was scheduled to host a town hall about the casino.
“I think she’s been underestimated every step of the way by Steve Cohen and his team,” the person said. Ramos, for her part, said Tuesday that Cohen’s team had made “unforced errors throughout this process.”
“I've been vocal about my resentment for just how many lobbyists and experts they've hired,” Ramos said. “It became a hindrance at one point early on for me to be able to have a conversation with experts because it was hard to find someone who wasn't on their payroll.”
If Cohen’s bid ever secures the parkland approval, it would become an immediate front-runner. Its huge size makes the bid favored among labor unions and, potentially, the state officials charged with awarding the three downstate licenses. And it enjoys otherwise strong support from the local officials who will compose the six-person panels that will hold binding votes on each bid.
Among them is Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, who has supported casinos for their economic development potential and who released his own statement Tuesday calling on state lawmakers to give Cohen what he wants.
“No one single elected official should be the sole arbiter of this $8 billion investment in our borough, so I strongly urge Governor Hochul and the state Senate to explore other avenues in order to bring the Metropolitan Park proposal to life and ensure that Queens continues to get the money we are owed and deserve,” Richards said.
The city needs to pass its own bill granting Cohen the same parkland permission, but that appears to be an easier lift: local City Councilman Francisco Moya has pledged his support.