First the news of David Wright and Mike Piazza. They are both still retired and do not plan on playing in 2022. Yes I click baited you! But nobody pays attention to the important things, so now that you’re here, QChron updates us all on the casino. Pay attention now. (Any bold and red below is mine because I know you guys skim articles)
The New York State Gaming Commission completed its call for request for information from players in the Willets Point area on Dec. 10, regarding the potential licensing of a casino in the neighborhood.
….New York Mets owner Steven Cohen is said to have been in conversations with casino and resort company Las Vegas Sands about putting up a gaming center near Citi Field.
When asked for confirmation on that, a senior communications official in the Mets organization said, “No, I can’t, I don’t have any details on that right now.”
Let me jump in and translate. That answer possibly means, yes but Steve will kill me if I tell you. Back to QChron.
Back in 2011, the team’s former owners, the Wilpons family and Saul Katz, also proposed building a casino just west of Citi Field, on land that is legally parkland. Since then, several projects have been proposed in the area, including a soccer stadium, numerous apartments and a shopping mall. In 2017, however, the New York State Court of Appeals ruled that the land could not be used for that kind of development. The Mets have a limited exception to the rule; since 1961, the organization has had a long-term lease of the land from Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
The land in question, then, is that to the east of Citi Field, given that it does not have the same level of protection. Currently, that land is zoned as C4-4, which does not allow for casinos.
To change that would require a Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, which would allow for public hearings on the matter; the decision itself would be left to the City Council…
….Such an effort would further be complicated by the fact that 1,100 affordable housing units have been slated to go up there since 2018; the city finally began environmental cleanup earlier this year in preparation.
Councilmember Francisco Moya (D-Corona) is co-chair of the Willets Point Task Force, (and said) “We are opposed to anything that could be built that interferes with the two plans approved by the Willets Point task force — including the historic project that will bring the deepest levels of affordability with the 1,100 units of affordable housing,” he said in a prepared statement. “I encourage my colleagues at the state level to ensure that the state doesn’t grant licenses for projects that may impact our most vulnerable families.”
State Sen. John Liu (D-Bayside) was concerned about the “potential displacement” a casino at Willets Point might cause. “[A casino is] a very big ‘if’ at this point,” he said. “It doesn’t seem like Willets Point would be a great place to put a casino.”
I encourage you to read the entire article, but we both know you won’t which is why I had to click bait you.
