Community support for New York Mets owner Steven Cohen’s proposed Metropolitan Park casino complex adjacent to the Mets’ Citi Field ballpark in Queens is great—or not, depending on which results of two recent polls one chooses to believe.
A poll released last week by Cohen and Queens Future, the name given to the development project that would be part of Metropolitan Park, purportedly shows that 62 percent of registered voters in state Senate District 13, which includes Queens and several nearby communities, support the $8 billion project.
Those results stand in opposition to a recent poll released by state Senator Jessica Ramos, which shows that 61 percent of respondents do not want a casino anywhere in Queens, with 75 percent saying they don’t want a casino in their neighborhood.
The Cohen-backed poll surveyed more than 600 Queens residents, only 250 of which were in Ramos’ district.
Metropolitan Park would transform a portion of current Citi Field parking space into an entertainment complex including a Hard Rock casino, a hotel and a music venue, plus 25 acres of green space, athletic fields, bike paths, and access to Flushing Bay.
The project also would include a “Taste of Queens Food Hall,” a concert venue, and improvement of the transit facilities surrounding the area to the tune of $1 billion.
