While the two Queens proposals have several major differences, they also share a number of similarities beyond the borough in which they may one day be built.
Both Metropolitan Park and Resorts World have pitched projects that feature a casino as part of a larger entertainment complex. The North Queens proposal includes promises to build new sports fields, fund a redesigned subway station and construct 25-acres of park space. The South Queens plan also proposes new park space, a connection to the local train station and 3,000 units of workforce housing, which would only be built if Resorts World is granted both a casino license and permission from the state to build on the plot of land currently occupied by Aqueduct Racetrack.
The developers behind the two projects have also touted their respective sites’ proximity to an airport. Metropolitan Park would be located a couple of miles from LaGuardia Airport and Resorts World is a similar distance from John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Both groups claim that if the state allows them to build their casino, tourists coming to New York City would no longer fly into one of Queens’ airports and hightail it for Manhattan. Instead, they’ll take a quick trip over to the local casino complex and spend their time – and money – in Queens.
Perhaps the strongest similarity between the two proposals is how their backers have chosen to frame the projects, insisting that they’ve centered Queens residents in the plans, which they claim will end up being a boon for the local economy.
During the unveiling of Resorts Worlds’ model last week, the project’s developers highlighted the money the gaming institution has donated to Queens groups over the past 13 years it’s been in operation. They also celebrated their partnerships with nearly all of the elected officials in the area, including State Senator and Senate Gaming Committee Chair Joe Addabbo, State Assemblymember Stacey Pheffer Amato, City Councilmember Nantasha Williams and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards.
“It’s been our job, our mission, to ensure that as we build up ourselves, we do the same in the community in which we operate,” Michelle Stoddart, the senior vice president of Community Development and Public Affairs for Resorts World New York City, said last week. “We care about your civic, cultural and educational groups, because we are improving the very communities in which we live.”
Metropolitan Park has similarly celebrated its work with local residents, holding dozens of visioning sessions ahead of the unveiling of their proposal in November 2023. It boasted support from several local elected officials and a slew of community groups and leaders, including the Queens Chamber of Commerce, local transportation advocates, several former city councilmembers and current Councilmember Francisco Moya.
“From the beginning Steve Cohen and Hard Rock have been committed to creating a community-driven vision to transform the 50 acres of asphalt around Citi Field,” Karl Rickett, Metropolitan Park’s spokesperson, told the Eagle in a statement. “Over the last three years they have engaged with both fans and the people who live and work in Queens with a promise to do this the right way every step of the way.”
“We are and always will be good neighbors because the community is our first and most important partner on this project,” he added. “The people who live and work in Queens deserve a fair and transparent process and we are committed to listening, communicating and engaging.”
So far, both developers seem to have been somewhat successful in winning over public opinion, despite an ongoing debate over whether the financial impacts of casinos outweigh their negative effects, like fueling gambling addictions.
There has also been opposition to the projects, particularly Metropolitan Park, which was denied permission last year to build on Citi Field’s parking lot by the local state senator, Jessica Ramos. The casino proposal has also been bashed by a group of environmental advocates and a handful of local residents who have warned against allowing Cohen to build the casino complex in the parking lot, which is technically owned by the city and designated as parkland.
Though Resorts World hasn’t gone through the same public review or held the same visioning sessions Metropolitan Park has over the last several years, it received pushback just prior to its opening a little more than a decade ago from locals who worried the project would invite crime, disorder and addiction.
Still, a majority of local elected officials in Queens have rallied behind at least one of the proposed casinos.
Richards, who said during the Resorts World model unveiling that it was “no secret” that he wanted to see the project succeed, has also issued his support for Metropolitan Park.
“I want both,” Richards told the Eagle last week. “I’m gung-ho on getting both.”
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