The Gang Solves The CitiField Parkland Casino Crisis

Looks like Media Goon has solved the casino crisis!

Steve wants a casino built on parkland.   I want “Boston Common” above underground parking.  We all want a domed stadium.  So Media Goon came up with this – let’s knock down Citi Field, start over and build UP.

My first idea is that the new stadium should two stories above ground level. Just like how DisneyWorld is built one story off the ground with service tunnels under it.

My idea is that the casino and shopping can occupy those two levels underneath the stadium. But then what happens to the parkland you want to be built?

Knock down Citi Field and then you have new ground there. Along with the new casino and shops you build a two deck parking area and the roof becomes the parkland and attaches to the stadium to make it seamless as if it was all ground level. Plant trees, build fountains, have foot paths around the area. This level can also have restaurants, bars, museums, and more retail space attached to the new ballpark.

Oh one more thing. This ballpark now has a retractable roof.

So now you have parkland, casino, restaurants, shopping, a new retractable roof stadium, and parking. (Via TheMediagoon.com)

Mr. Goon points out

I know Citi Field is only 14 years old but by the time 126th street has all the affordable housing, retail shops, schools NYFC stadium done, it will probably be closer to being twenty years old. That means it either is or will be obsolete within a few years of that. The Mets should get ahead of that.

 

 

If Sands builds a casino at the Nassau Coliseum, what’s the case for taking away the parkland near Citi Field?

Long Island Business News reports:

Las Vegas Sands plans to purchase the long-term lease of the Nassau Coliseum site to develop a “multi-billion-dollar” casino and entertainment project at the Uniondale property.

Sands, which has been lobbying heavily to snag one of the three downstate casino licenses, will partner with RXR on the planned project, as RXR remains the master developer of the Coliseum site. But Sands will now take the lead on the project which will center around the casino.

So, given that we have a casino at Aqueduct, 7 miles from Citi Field,  and one in Yonkers (18 miles away) and now this one at the site of the Coliseum (23 miles away, and as a former Northern Queens resident, the easiest of the three to get to from Citi Field – you guys can argue amongst yourselves about Aqueduct, there’s a reason there’s a Seinfeld episode about the Van Wyck)….why do we need a Citi Field Casino built on parkland?

I think Steve is a smart man and will realize we don’t.  Also, Steve is an honorable man of his word, and since he truly wants to improve the parkland near Citi Field, I am hopeful he will agree he should adopt my “Boston Common” plan where we would move parking underground and top it with beautiful green space, which would truly improve the area and use parkland as intended.  Thanks in advance Steve, you’re the best!

Some of you might not understand why I use the Stonecutter image for casino posts….well, it goes back to an old Simpsons reference,  You see, some people think there are secret deals between rich people and politicians and the rich people get to do whatever the hell they want, as parodied in this classic Simpsons but in which Homer finds himself at a meeting with Mayor Quimby and Mister Burns.

Simpsons fans might enjoy this clip in which Mr. Burns is meeting with the mayor who is excited Mr. Burns wants to build a casino on the waterfront.

LINK: Let the Great Mets Parking Lot Casino Schmooze-Fest Begin! If you vision it, it might come [a private casino on public parkland] (HellgateNYC)

Hey gang, check out this wonderful piece from HellgateNYC which has my kind of snark and sarcasm called….

Let the Great Mets Parking Lot Casino Schmooze-Fest Begin!

If you vision it, it might come [a private casino on public parkland].

 

So I am going to excerpt a little bit because I know nobody bothers to click on links in the 2020s. and most people just want to hear about free agents.  But you SHOULD READ THEIR ENTIRE PIECE, but since you won’t, let me educate you a bit…

 

Mets owner Steve Cohen’s quest to build something undisclosed atop the parking lots around Citi Field—psst it’s a casinoheld its coming-out party on Saturday, as roughly 450 Queens residents and assorted Mets fans trooped through the stadium’s Piazza 31 Club to provide input on what they would like to see sprout in the team’s infamously barren surroundings.

..

This parkland designation became an issue when, in 2012, then-Mets owner Fred Wilpon and his son Jeff announced that they were partnering with Related Companies, the developer of Hudson Yards, to build a massive shopping mall, dubbed Willets West, in the Citi Field parking lot. Five years and several lawsuits later, Willets West had a fork stuck in it by an appeals court judge who ruled in no uncertain terms that parkland can’t be used for anything other than recreational purposes unless the state legislature specifically acts to allow it.

When Cohen took possession of the Mets in 2020, at a cost of $2.4 billion of his estimated $14.6 billion in net worth, he made no mention of wanting to revive Willets West or do anything else with the stadium lots. But that was before Governor Kathy Hochul announced she was opening up applications for three additional casino licenses, to be specifically reserved for sites in and around New York City.

..

The presentation included very little information about Cohen’s actual plans—the man himself put in a cameo but stuck to generalities—preferring to stick to open-ended questions about what local residents would like to see built; handwritten suggestions from the masses included a “jobs training center,” “soapbox derby track,” and “community cannabis gardens. (via HellgateNYC)

Soapbox Derby Track?  Did some boys scouts from the 1940’s attend this thing?   Also how is a “jobs training center” a good use of PARKLAND.  IT’S PARKLAND FOLKS!!! PARKLAND!!!!

Today in Casino Propaganda – Fans to Mets Owner: We Don’t Want to Drive to Citi Field. Me: We don’t?

OK Please stop with this nonsense headline:

Fans to Mets Owner: We Don’t Want to Drive to Citi Field

It comes from NYC StreetsBlog and thanks to @bobmrik for putting it on my  radar.

First of all, to be fair, I am sure SOME fans don’t want to drive to Citi Field.  Some would want to bike.  Others might walk.  Some might take an Uber. Some might take a limo.

I myself enjoy a bicycle.  However, even if we had World Class Bike Lanes from my house to Citi Field, it would still take me many hours to get there, so I DO want to drive to Citi Field (well, I don’t want to go to Citi Field at all, but if I did I would drive and park in Corona and THEN walk.)

Guys like @mediagoon live within biking distance, but he’s been known to drive to Citi Field, so ask him.  T-Shirt enthusiast tailgaters seem to have cars with tailgating paraphernalia, beverages and food in their cars, so they seem to drive.

Anyway, SOME fans probably don’t want to drive, and some do.   But the notion that MOST fans don’t want to drive is nonsense.

Next, be sure to click through to the piece so that you can see the graphic they shared.  Am I really to believe that one of the top ways most people want to get to Citi Field is by…wait for it…WALKING?

Really?

Now it’s possible that the people who could be bothered to show up at a casino propoganda meeting visioning session were nearby residents – for example, Steve could have offered me $500 and I probably would have rather stayed home and played video games than trek to Citi Field – and I surely would not have walked.

Fortunately, part of this discussion turned Anti-Casino!

I don’t think that we need a casino in order for that to be done,” said State Sen. Jessica Ramos, who attended the workshop. “We need bike lanes yesterday. For eons, so many of us have been talking about coming down 34th Avenue and crossing over the highway [exit and entrance ramps]. There’s all sorts of issues there, and cars don’t properly stop, it can be very dangerous. Ideally, I would love to bike to a Met game with my kids on a nice summer day, but right now, I don’t feel that that’s something I can consider.” (Via NYC Streetsblog)

I don’t know where Jessica Ramos lives, but her office is listed on Google as 74-09 37th Ave Suite 302. Jackson Heights, NY 11372.

I grew up in Jackson Heights, and went to many many Mets games as a kid.  We usually took the subway, but occasionally my dad would drive and park in Corona. I do not recall us ever using the lot for a game.

But, having grown up there, the notion that I would have my kids bike from 74th street and 37th avenue, up to 34th avenue, and then the 50 blocks down 34th avenue – FIFTY BLOCKS!!!  Do you guys have kids?  They will be complaining before we get to 82nd street.  And then after a 4 hour baseball game they have to bike home?  Are you insane?

An article from 2018 mentioned Ramos “lives in Jackson Heights with her husband … and her two sons, aged 4 and 6.”   If I did my math right those kids would now be 9 and 11…or thereabouts.   You think a 9 year old is biking home 50 blocks AFTER the game?  I don’t.

So I don’t know what’s going on here.  Are the cyclists teaming up with the casinosists to get rid of a parking lot.  Will we trade parkland for half a mile of a bike lane and a casino?   Is it good business for the New York Mets Baseball Team if it’s annoying to drive to Citi Field?  If your casino is making a million dollars a day do you care if your baseball stadium is half empty?  Will people walk to the casino?  Will they bike there?

So many questions, but one thing is clear…..  it’s parkland.

From Poltiico today

“No tourists are going to fly to New York to go to Queens,” Brett Herschenfeld, an executive vice president at SL Green, told Janaki. “There’s nothing unique about Queens.”

Mets owner Steve Cohen, who is proposing a casino on the parking lot of Citi Field, opted not to respond. But Borough President Donovan Richards threw some jabs of his own. “Queens is the future,” he told Sally. “Manhattan? That was maybe 1983. We’re in 2023 now.” Most officials who have sway over the process spoke favorably about Cohen’s plan, though state Sen. Jessica Ramos expressed some reservations. (via Politico)

My take: if you are a tourist coming to NEW YORK CITY and what attracts you is a CASINO IN QUEENS….you’re doing NYC…and casinos for that matter….all wrong.

PSYCHE: Former Almost Mets Great Carlos Correa is reportedly signing with the Twins

Prototype for STEVE COHEN BASEBALL ’23 for the PS5…comes with nobody at 3B

Well, sorry of you bought season tickets and a Correa jersey because Carlos Correa has reportedly agreed to his third free-agent deal of the offseason, this one a six-year, $200 million pact to return to the Minnesota Twins. (per Yahoo via a Jeff Passan tweet)

This shocking development comes after Mets owner Steve Cohen spent his time talking to Queens residents about what to build on the parkland adjoining Citi Field.  One wonders if Steve’s multi-tasking had anything to do with the Mets finalizing the Correa deal.  It probably didn’t, but one could wonder about such a thing.

In the past, Mets owners such as the Wilpons may have been described as “Cheap” or “Stupid and Cheap” but “Uncle” Steve has much better PR people than the Wilpons ever did, so clearly Correa not signing with the Mets is the mark of a wise businessman.

Expect Correa to tell the Twins fanbase that they are the best fans in baseball, how proud he is to be on the Giants Mets Twins and that this was always his first choice and true love and it’s not about the money.  Also expect the Twins to be contracted around 2030 when this sport’s RSN money dries up and teams are left with albatross contracts.