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New York Mets owner Steve Cohen’s vision to remake the Citi Field neighborhood is increasingly coming into focus.
The billionaire has teamed up with Hard Rock International on a bid to build a $8 billion casino and entertainment complex adjacent to Citi Field — a key element in the effort to remake the long-derided area of large parking lots and a glut of auto repair shops.
Hard Rock and Cohen are one of nearly a dozen applicants for one of three highly coveted state licenses to build a casino in downstate New York. Cohen’s desire to build a casino has been well known, but Tuesday marked the first detailed release of his plans for what he’s calling Metropolitan Park, which will include a gaming center, hotel, music venue, food hall, green space, a renovated mass-transit station, community athletic fields, and playgrounds.
Cohen himself has criticized the Citi Field area, saying “there’s nothing going on” there — and that “it’s time the world’s greatest city got the sports and entertainment park it deserves.”
Tough Road Ahead
There are still numerous hurdles for the plan.
In addition to winning the gaming license, which itself faces stiff competition, Cohen and Hard Rock will need to secure new legislation to allow for commercial development on what is currently designated as parkland — and political support for that is currently uncertain at best. A lengthy announcement heralding the project included several statements of support from local business and community leaders, but not elected officials.
Exact funding numbers haven’t been revealed, but Cohen is in line to save more than $200 million over the next quarter-century through a prior refinancing of the Citi Field construction bonds.
The Cohen-Hard Rock proposal also adds to additional development coming to the area via NYCFC’s separate plans to develop a $780 million soccer-specific stadium adjacent to Citi Field.
