Photo credit: Queens Borough President’s Office
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards has recommended conditional approval of the planned $8 billion Metropolitan Park development adjacent to Citi Field, citing the proposal’s potential positive impact on the local community.
Richards announced his conditional approval of the Metropolitan Park proposal Monday, stating that casinos do not often translate into long-term success for the communities they are built in. However, he commended the Metropolitan Park team for creating a plan that would provide the community with a 25-acre public park and other community amenities.
The proposal, a planned development by New York Mets owner Steve Cohen and Hard Rock Entertainment that would convert a 50-acre parking lot west of Citi Field into an entertainment complex with a casino as its centerpiece, also shops and restaurants, a Taste of Queens food hall, the redevelopment of the Mets-Willets Point subway station, and improved roads and bike paths as well as the 25-acre park.
Last month, five relevant community boards that cover areas bordering Flushing Meadows-Corona Park overwhelmingly voted in favor of zoning text and city map amendments for the project. Meanwhile, CB 4 – the only other community district deemed “adjacent” to the project – delayed its vote until after the 60-day review period outlined in New York City’s ULURP process.
Although the proposed 50-acre site is located on an asphalt parking lot, it is legally designated as city parkland, meaning the amendments must be approved before the project can move forward.
Richards announced his conditional support for the Metropolitan Park on Monday as part of the ULURP process. Both Richards and the relevant community boards issued advisory reviews of the proposal only.
The proposal will now go to the City Planning Commission, City Council and Mayor’s office as part of the ULURP process.
Richards’ conditional approval comes less than two weeks after the Borough President held a public hearing on Dec. 5 , hearing from the developers behind the project as well as dozens of local residents.
Richards laid out a number of conditions for the approval of the Metropolitan Park proposal, including a recommendation that the Metropolitan Park team commit to all of the community benefits laid out during the ULURP process with a written letter to his office. The $8 billion proposal includes a $1 billion community fund, including $460 million set aside for ADA improvements at the Mets-Willets Point subway station, $320 million for the 25-acre park and a $163 million Community Benefit Fund for areas covered by Community Boards 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9 over the next 30 years. It also includes $25 million in funding for local neighborhood projects.
The conditional approval also called for the creation of a Community Advisory Board that would act as a watchdog and ensure that all of the community benefits were realized.
The Borough President additionally called for the creation of a framework to ensure that a portion of the proposal’s revenue is earmarked for maintenance and capital projects within Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.
The conditional approval also included calls for a commitment to a minimum of 30% minority and women-owned business hiring and contracting, the submission of quarterly reports on local hiring to the surrounding community boards and the conducting of culturally competent outreach to Queens street vendors and assisting them in securing space within the proposed Taste of Queens food hall.
Richards added that the Metropolitan Park proposal should include terms and conditions for Metropolitan Park’s “CommUNITY Passport” program, which will encourage guests at the hotel, casino and entertainment complex to spend their rewards points at hundreds of Queens-based businesses. Richards said the program should have the central goal of promoting and supporting local businesses across Queens and that the entire Metropolitan Park proposal should benefit the local community.
“Many recent studies have cited mixed economic outcomes when casinos are built, often not translating to long-term success. However, the Applicant Team has done a commendable job of creating a plan that would enrich local constituents’ lives with a 25-acre public park, community facility space, transportation improvements, a food hall designed to elevate Queens-based eateries and a nine-figure community benefits fund, among other aspects,” Richards said in his conditional approval of the project.
“As Borough President, I will work tirelessly to see that these commitments come to fruition and ensure the Applicant Team will deliver on every element of their promises to the surrounding community.”
The $8 billion Metropolitan Park proposal hinges on the project winning one of the three downstate casino licenses approved by state legislators. Two of the licenses are expected to be handed to existing “racinos” – which have slot machines and horse racing but no traditional casino table games – making competition for the final gaming license fierce.
Other projects vying for a downstate casino license have outlined proposals at Times Square, Hudson Yards, the United Nations, Coney Island, and the former Trump Links golf course in the Bronx, among other locations.
The City Planning Commission will now vote on the Metropolitan Park zoning amendments before the proposals goes before the City Council for a vote.
