Democratic state Sen. Jessica Ramos blocked billionaire New York Mets owner Steve Cohen’s $8 billion casino development in her impoverished Big Apple district.
The Major League Baseball mogul’s proposed ‘Metropolitan Park’ entertainment complex was going to bring 25,000 jobs to Corona in Queens, but Ramos said it would also lead to the ‘extraction of wealth’ from the area.
‘My neighbors work hard every damn day. We deserve the best. And we constantly lack changes at all levels of government,” said Ramos, 38. New York Magazine.
‘We have been desperate for economic development here. And our best hope is the damn casino?
Cohen, 67, the hedge fund heavyweight, said his proposed 50-acre casino, hotel and music complex spanning the abandoned space between the Mets’ Citi Field and Flushing Bay would generate $130 billion in impact. economical in 30 years.
Democratic state senator Jessica Ramos (pictured) blocked billionaire New York Mets owner Steve Cohen’s $8 billion casino development in her impoverished Big Apple district.
But Ramos worries that this will come at the expense of Corona’s largely Hispanic residents, where the median income of $66,000 is about 14 percent lower than the New York City average of $78,000, according to Furman Center data.
The single mother of two, the daughter of Colombian immigrants, said she spent the past few months “playing chess with a billionaire” as Cohen moved to push her development through the city’s law.
“I’m resentful because he’s holding our entire community hostage saying it’s a casino or nothing,” Ramos told New York Magazine.
‘Why should anyone get away with it like that when it’s a decision that will affect millions of people?’ In reality, these are public lands. Our land.’
“We are not in a position to host a casino,” Ramos added, noting that casino customers generally do not benefit from the business, especially those with cash problems.
Hedge fund heavyweight Cohen, 67, said his proposed 50-acre casino, hotel and music complex spanning the abandoned space between the Mets’ Citi Field and Flushing Bay would generate $130 billion in economic impact. in 30 years.
Ramos (pictured) worries that the development will come at the expense of the largely Hispanic residents of Corona, where the median income of $66,000 is about 14 percent lower than the New York City average of $78,000, according to data from the Furman Center.
‘The people who are here hope to generate generational wealth. And I just don’t see how a casino helps us achieve that goal. I mean, it’s literally the opposite. “It is the extraction of the very little wealth we have.”
Queens-born Ramos solidified her refusal to introduce permitting legislation in an official statement shared via X on Tuesday.
“We want investment and opportunity, we are desperate for green spaces and recreation for the whole family,” their statement reads.
‘We do not agree with the premise that we have to accept a casino in our backyard as compensation. I resent the conditions and generations of neglect that have made us so desperate that we would be willing to reach an agreement.’
Ramos said he has “drafted an alternative disposition bill that strikes a balance,” allowing Cohen to build a “convention center and hotel and more than double the proposed open green space.”
The Major League Baseball mogul’s proposed ‘Metropolitan Park’ entertainment complex was going to create 25,000 jobs in Corona in Queens, but Ramos said it would also lead to the ‘extraction of wealth’ from the area.
Landscape architect Field Operations would design the park, according to Cohen. Previously, the group designed Manhattan’s High Line as well as Pier 17 at South Street Seaport.
“Mr. Cohen and Hard Rock would continue to make profits, albeit less,” his statement read.
But not everyone agrees with Ramos. Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. said residents “greatly deserve the 25,000 good-paying union jobs” the casino complex would create.
He made a veiled attack on Ramos, saying that “no elected official should be the sole arbiter of this $8 billion investment in our district,” while urging New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state Senate to ” explore other avenues” to “bring the proposal to life.”
“There is very little generational wealth in northwest Queens, where survival work prevails, public services are lacking, and immigrant street vendor workers are displaced and demonized,” Richards said.
‘That’s why families in this community are so deserving of the 25,000 good-paying union jobs, the $163 million community investment fund, the Taste of Queens food hall designed for District vendors, critical support for community organizations, the increase in property values. and more than what the Metropolitan Park proposal proposes.
‘We are in a state of emergency in northwest Queens, which was hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to struggle as the cost of living rises.
‘The Metropolitan Park proposal will create countless avenues for generational wealth creation here in Corona, Jackson Heights, Elmhurst and other communities surrounding the proposed site, which is currently a parking lot that sits empty for more than 200 days a year.
“In no way should acres of asphalt block the rise of families who deserve upward mobility up the financial and social ladder into the middle class.”
General view of Citi Field as the sun sets behind the stadium during the third inning between the New York Mets and the San Francisco Giants on May 24.
Cohen, who is the real-life inspiration for the TV series Billions about a powerful investor, heralded the casino complex as something people could be “truly proud of” when he unveiled his plans in November.
“It’s time for the largest city in the world to have the sports and entertainment park it deserves,” he said.
‘When I bought this team, the fans and the community kept saying we needed to do better.
“Metropolitan Park delivers on the promise of a shared space that people will not only want to come and enjoy, but can be truly proud of.”
Landscape architect Field Operations would design the park, according to Cohen. Previously, the group designed Manhattan’s High Line as well as Pier 17 at South Street Seaport.
