So you’re telling me there’s a chance? Citi Field casino bid gets new life with Assembly bill

Who saw that one coming, huh? 

Freshman Queens Assembly Member Larinda Hooks has quietly introduced parkland alienation legislation that would clear a major hurdle for Mets owner Steve Cohen in his quest to build a casino next to Citi Field.

The legislation is a necessity because the proposed site is legally public parkland, even if it’s functionally a parking lot (“50 acres of asphalt,” as the Cohen camp puts it). Citi Field (and before that, Shea Stadium) and its accompanying lot is allowed under the long-standing lease the Mets have had with the city, but to allow anything more – like a casino, a concert hall, a Queens food hall and 25 acres of green space – requires the parkland to be alienated specifically for that purpose by the state Legislature.

Hooks made no secret of her intentions to introduce such legislation, even before taking office in January; she’s picking up where former Assembly Member Jeff Aubry, who effectively hand-picked Hooks as his successor, left off. But she’s reviving an effort that has floundered at times and has been stagnant for months.

Parkland alienation and other hyperlocal bills are traditionally introduced by the lawmakers representing the area in question – as Aubry did before he retired at the end of last session. State Sen. Jessica Ramos, however, chose not to after more than a year of deliberation and heated town halls. With the state Gaming Commission unlikely to grant any project with unresolved zoning issues one of the three coveted downstate full casino licenses – now set to be awarded at the end of this year – Ramos’ decision effectively killed Cohen’s plan. She did not return a request for comment about Hooks’ new legislation.

Hooks said she feels strongly that the project, known as “Metropolitan Park,” will benefit her district and Queens more broadly, putting the parking lot to better use and providing jobs to her constituents. “Queens deserves bold, transformational investments, right? Not parking lots disguised as parkland,” she told City & State. Cohen’s team has promised that the project will create at least 23,000 jobs and provide employment throughout the year rather than just during baseball season.

While Aubry’s bill last year did not pass, Hooks believes that growing community support means that this time will be different. Six community boards have come out in support of the project since Aubry introduced his bill. “The community has really spoken,” Hooks said. “No other casino bid or project out there has done that, so that says a lot.” Granted, that community support depends who you ask – Cohen and Ramos released polls on the project with conflicting results last spring, and at times, town halls on the matter felt as if people were discussing two completely different proposals. 

Hooks isn’t entirely alone, either. Her legislation already has two cosponsors: Assembly Members Sam Berger and Andrew Hevesi, both of Queens. “After thorough review, I believe that this plan will deliver immeasurable economic benefits to the 27th (Assembly) District and the Borough of Queens while remaining confident that the Metropolitan Park team has and will continue to effectively address community concerns,” Berger told City & State. “My only wish is that public projects operated with this level of community engagement and attention to detail.” And Assembly Member David Weprin – the only person to co-sponsor Aubry’s bill last year – told City & State he plans to support Hooks’ bill as well.

No matter how much support Hooks’ bill receives in the Assembly, though, the proposal remains effectively dead in the water without a state senator to introduce a companion bill. The state Legislature’s long tradition of member deference means that other senators are unlikely to introduce such a bill so long as Ramos refuses – but there is nothing legally preventing them from doing so. On occasion, representatives from other areas have been known to introduce parkland alienation legislation. In 2023, state Sen. Kevin Parker and Assembly Member Marcela Mitaynes, both of Brooklyn, sponsored a parkland alienation bill meant to facilitate the laying of a transmission cable underground in Long Beach, Long Island. The governor ended up vetoing the measure.

Hooks told City & State that she has not yet spoken with Ramos about sponsoring companion legislation in the state Senate, but she is hopeful that she can convince Ramos to be a partner. “Her and I have a great working relationship,” Hooks said. 

Ramos has previously suggested that she’s open to a project on the site that does not include a casino. But Cohen and his chief of staff, Michael Sullivan, have long been adamant that any plan there is not viable without the “economic engine” of a casino. Ramos has not bought that argument; in opting not to move forward with legislation last May, the senator said at the time, “Cohen is worth an estimated $18 billion-plus, to my estimation, and so math would dictate that a casino would not be necessary to build out any part of the remaining project. … My hope is that he sees that people are counting on him to do the right thing here.”

Hooks didn’t close the door to a different state senator taking Ramos’ place, if the senator continues to decline to introduce a parkland alienation bill. “I would be willing to work with another sponsor,” Hooks said. “I would love for it to be my senator as well, but I really am looking to get this bill passed.”

As Cohen’s team looks for other avenues to the alienation – ones that likely don’t involve Ramos – it has continued to push for the casino license, local support and state approval for his plan. Queens Future, one of the LLCs formed as part of Cohen’s effort, spent over $1 million on lobbying efforts in the past year, and engaged in a robust campaign in order to drum up support from local community board members. That seems to have worked out – Cohen recently scored an incremental victory when the City Council approved municipal zoning changes last week. That remains moot, however, without parkland alienation and an actual license. 

Karl Rickett, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Park project, declined to comment on the bill’s introduction.