Steve Cohen, the billionaire owner of baseball’s New York Mets, has launched a lobbying blitz at the state capitol in Albany to gather support for a bill that is vital to him transforming 50 acres of parking lot space at the Mets’ Citi Field ballpark in Queens into a casino and park attraction.
An act of the legislature is required for Citi Field’s parking space, currently zoned as parkland, to be rezoned to accommodate a casino. Standing in Cohen’s way has been state Senator Jessica Ramos, who represents the Queens district that includes the Citi Field acreage.
Ramos has thus far refused to support the parkland turnover bill, citing community opposition. Ramos would exert key influence on the bill clearing committee and moving to a Senate vote.
Cohen has embarked on an effort to get the turnover bill passed without Ramos’ support.
Politico and Playbook reported that Michael Sullivan, chief of staff for Cohen’s firm, Point72 Asset Management, was spotted walking into the Capitol offices of the two most powerful members of the state legislature. Sullivan, flanked by advisers, had meetings with Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie last week.
“I’m not a gambler, but I would say I wish them a lot of luck,” Ramos said of Cohen’s team, according to Playbook. “I’ve questioned their strategy all along. We have done our best to engage as many constituents in the process that we’ve created, and we’ll see where that goes.”
In addition to the lobbying effort, Cohen has launched a social media marketing blitz which consists of online petitions, advertisements and emails targeted at key Queens stakeholders in support of the $8 billion project.
