Metropolitan Park makes its New York casino pitch, but will state officials play ball?

In November 2020, hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen completed his $2.4 billion purchase of the New York Mets franchise. Since then, Cohen has continued to spend in New York, and spend big.

In 2021, Cohen shelled out $341 million for star infielder Francisco Lindor. In 2022, he laid down $102 million for star closer Edwin Diaz. And before this season, he made an even bigger splash, wrestling superstar slugger Juan Soto away from the crosstown rival Yankees in a $765 million deal, the biggest in MLB history.

And now, Cohen and his partner Hard Rock International are on the precipice of an even bigger New York bet, in the form of an $8.1 billion mixed-use casino complex known as Metropolitan Park. The proposal is one of eight vying for three available downstate New York licences to be issued this year.

If approved, Metropolitan Park would transform 50 acres of asphalt parking lots next to the Mets’ Citi Field stadium into a sprawling development with every sort of amenity. In addition to a resort and casino, the project would include a Hard Rock entertainment venue, a 25-acre public park and more.

Its backers presented the project Monday to a local community advisory committee, which will hold a binding vote by 30 September on whether the project can proceed. State Assembly member Larinda Hooks was elected chair of the CAC at the meeting, while city council member Francisco Moya was not present. The committee must now host at least two public hearings before casting a vote.

‘A swamp, a dump and a parking lot’

Leading the Met Park proposal was Michael “Sully” Sullivan, Cohen’s chief of staff. Sullivan explained how the long-term vision of Met Park “goes back to the very first days of my boss Steve buying the New York Mets”. After Cohen bought the team, he wanted to engage with fans and get a sense of what they expected from him. So he went right to the source.

“Against my better wishes, he got on Twitter,” Sullivan joked.

From there, most non-baseball feedback centred around Citi Field and how it lacked other offerings and walkable “village” areas now commonly seen at ballparks across the country. Sullivan said his team “consistently heard from our neighbours and Mets fans that the areas around Citi Field left a lot to be desired”.

Since 1964, the Mets have played in the Flushing Meadows–Corona Park area of Queens. From that year through 2008, the team played at Shea Stadium. Shea was then demolished to make way for Citi Field, which debuted nearby in 2009. However, none of the surrounding areas were redeveloped or redone as part of the transition. Sullivan thus noted that for the last 100-plus years, the land “has been a swamp, a dump and parking lot – never a public park”.

Since the proliferation of sports betting post-2018, there have been multiple sportsbooks to open inside pro sports stadiums across the US. But no US stadium has ever seen such a direct and expansive gambling integration like Cohen is proposing, not even in Las Vegas.

40,000 doors, 20,000 signatures

The Met Park team, as the second-to-last to present to a local CAC so far, seemed to have taken some notes from the other bidders. CAC members, as stakeholders noted directly, are charged with gauging the public support of a project instead of reflecting their personal opinions. As such, a considerable amount of time was spent discussing the project’s outreach efforts and its high approval rate.

Former city council member Julissa Ferreras-Copeland leads the project’s community programmes and detailed those findings to the committee. In the last four years, she said, stakeholders have held more than 1,000 meetings with local leaders, held 16 workshops, knocked on 40,000 doors and garnered more than 20,000 local signatures.

“We heard something that was very important to us – that people love Queens and they want to stay here,” she said. “They want to have opportunities here, they want expanded open space.”

When there are no baseball games, she said, the area can feel “dark, desolate and dank”. A very similar argument is being pitched by The Coney, which seeks to enliven Coney Island’s off months.

Ferreras-Copeland also gave some data that showed how much support the project has garnered. Unlike most other bids, Met Park was approved by all of its applicable community boards, six in this case. It was then approved by the borough president, the city council and both chambers of the state legislature.

In all, Met Park made it through all hurdles with an 88% approval rate in terms of votes for and against.

Hard Rock Met?

Hard Rock President of Casino Development Sean Caffery discussed his company’s involvement in the project. The Seminole-owned operator is one of three tribal casino partners still active in the New York race, alongside the Chickasaw Nation (The Coney) and Mohegan Gaming (Freedom Plaza). The company operates gaming and non-gaming properties, entertainment venues and more in addition to its Hard Rock Bet sports betting and iGaming platform.

Caffery estimated that the project would generate 23,000 jobs between construction and permanent positions. In an attempt to assist the local economy, Hard Rock will also extend its Unity loyalty programme to allow members to earn and redeem points at partnering businesses around the community, just as Caesars has pitched for its Times Square casino.

Additionally, the company is proposing a “Queens Music Museum” to honor artists from the area, featuring memorabilia from Hard Rock’s collection, among the most extensive in the world. That said, no musicians are endorsing the project, while former rival rappers Jay-Z and Nas are connected to the Caesars and Resorts World pitches, respectively.

“We took the feedback from the community to heart in all elements of our resort’s design and business practices and we look forward to the opportunity to both build and operate a world-class Hard Rock integrated resort that will make Queens and New York state proud,” Caffery said.

Friends in high places

Met Park has has been viewed as a possible frontrunner in the race. This is due primarily to its high approval rate through the various stages as well as Cohen’s propensity to spend whatever it takes to get what he wants. Some have noted that he could be the most politically connected of the bidders, having been a big donor to both Governor Kathy Hochul and the state’s Democratic Party.

According to state records, Cohen and his wife donated more than $135,000 to Hochul’s 2021 campaign. Gothamist also reported that Cohen’s Point72 asset management firm donated some $235,000 to the New York State Democratic Committee from 2023-24.

But if anything has become clear, it’s that the downstate New York process is anything but predictable.

One potential hurdle is that the project is in Queens. The state’s two racinos – MGM Empire City and Resorts World NYC – have long been deemed as favourites, due to their tax contributions and significant speed-to-market advantages. Resorts World is also in Queens. It remains to be seen whether state officials would award two of three licences to Queens and exclude Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx altogether.

Skeletons in the closet

Another question pertains to local pushback, namely from state Senator Jessica Ramos, whose district includes much of the project site. Ramos refused to endorse the proposal from the beginning and stalled its progress for months.

Cohen and company circumvented this by enlisting Senator John Liu, whose district includes a much smaller portion of the project. Liu championed necessary legislation, which passed despite Ramos’ opposition. The process violated an unwritten rule known as “member deference” and became among the most publicised examples of political maneuvering tied to the casino licensing issue.

Hard Rock also faces scrutiny, as one of its top executives, Alex Pariente, was suspended in mid-July as part of a regulatory investigation. Pariente is accused of allowing known illegal bookmakers to frequent the Hard Rock Punta Cana resort in the Dominican Republic and of violating AML protocols by dividing a larger transaction into several smaller ones to avoid detection.

“Hard Rock International is aware of the allegations involving one of our executives and is treating the matter with the utmost seriousness,” the company wrote in a statement. “Honesty and integrity are core values of our organisation, and we hold all team members – regardless of their role – to the highest ethical standards.”

Resorts World and MGM Resorts face similar problems for AML scandals, with theirs coming from casino operations in Las Vegas. It’s unclear how much impact such out-of-state problems will have on New York officials, although the state’s top regulator, Brian O’Dwyer, has noted his concern about these allegations.

 Steve Cohen has gotten used to writing cheques since buying the Mets. With the Met Park casino bid, he’s hoping for the chance to write his biggest yet.