Mets owner Steve Cohen invited the residents of Queens Citi Field there to get input on the future of the neighborhood – with an eye towards bidding for one of the three New York City casino licenses.
For three hours, Cohen held court and joined about 450 baseball fans, neighbors and community activists to talk about turning the neighborhood around Citi Field into an all-weather entertainment destination. He fed the ballpark hot dogs on the concourse overlooking the site of what may have been the city’s first casino.
The charm offensive — which Cohen’s team called a “community visioning session” — was the fourth and largest of more than a dozen community meetings Cohen planned. The event downplayed the role casinos could play in the development, and none of the press releases or websites promoting the event mentioned the word “casino.”
But Cohen, the billionaire founder of Stamford, Connecticut-based Point72 Asset Management, is also no secret that the casino is on the table. And New Green Willets LLC has spent more than $300,000 lobbying the state legislature on casino-related issues.
“We take input from everyone and look for good ideas. And you know, games can be part of that,” Cohen said in an interview. “Right now, we’re in the listening phase.”
A request for casino applications released by the state this week made it clear that “only projects embraced by the community” will be considered. Any casino license application must go through a Community Advisory Committee appointed by the governor, mayor and other elected officials.
Cohen said he is seeking input on what to do with the “50 acres of asphalt” that is now a parking lot for Citi Field on the west side of the ballpark. To the east, at the tip of Willets Point, is the newly approved $780 million soccer stadium site for the New York City Soccer Club.
Cohen’s venture is one of several potential bidders for three state casino licenses earmarked for the New York City area last year. On Tuesday, the state Gaming Facility Location Board approved several conditions for the license: A minimum capital investment of $500 million and a license fee of $500 million.
Cohen said the development would come under his family’s office and not the Mets.
Cohen said he has not lined up a gaming partner for a potential offer. “We’re working on it,” he said. Several casino operators – including Las Vegas Sands Corp and Hard Rock International – have been scouting locations.
But the Citi Field site could face additional hurdles.
Previous attempts to develop the area as a shopping center and movie theater have been blocked in court because it was designated as a park by the state legislature to host the 1939 World’s Fair. The public use restrictions were imposed when the site was leased to the Mets in 1961 for the construction of Shea Stadium.
Only state legislatures can remove these restrictions.
Cohen’s chief of staff, Michael Sullivan, said that the company will seek any approval required by the city and state, and that the site has no other obstacles than other potential casino sites around the country.
“Each site will have different challenges. We’re not worried about other sites,” he said.
Enthusiasm for the casino was lukewarm among those who attended there. In an informal vote on options for sites, live music, dining, art exhibitions and festivals were all more popular than games.
Laura Shepard, a community organizer for the transit advocacy group Transportation Alternatives, told Cohen that development should be a destination where people can walk, bike or take transit — not just drive.
“Personally I don’t want to see a casino,” she said. “Most people want more green space, concerts and community events.”
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