I know the Mets are 10 and 4 so you guys will agree to anything right now, but great job by the Queens Chronicle on paying attention to the Casino story. Personally I love the naming of “New Green Willets” as if it’s some sort of Greenpeace For Queens and not just some sort of corporate stuff that in the end comes back to the same people.
As state budget negotiations neared, lobbyists representing Las Vegas Sands and New Green Willets — a company that shares a Stamford address with Crown Mets LLC, Crown Intermediate LLC (both of which are linked to the Mets organization) and Point 72, Cohen’s financial firm — met with state and city lawmakers on several occasions, records show.
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A Willets Point casino would not be without a hitch, as a major redevelopment effort there has been in the works for years. “I don’t think the Gaming Commission or otherwise would be interested in interrupting anything that’s already in the process,” Addabbo said.
Specifically, 1,100 affordable housing units have been slated to go up at Willets Point since 2018, and the city’s environmental cleanup work on that began in June 2021.
Councilmember Francisco Moya (D-Corona), who represents Willets Point proper, has been very involved in the push for affordable housing in the area. Previously, he told the Chronicle, “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.”
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Still, Addabbo did not seem to think the effort was a lost cause: “That’s going to be a very interesting area, because of … the momentum that’s behind it.”
Why again do we need a Casino in Queens, other than the nice folks at Sands and “New Green Willets” will make money?
