State Senate OKs bill allowing Steve Cohen to bid for $8B casino project

ALBANY — Mets owner Steve Cohen and partners got a green light Monday from the State Senate to allow them to put in a bid for a casino near Citi Field.

The State Senate gave final passage to a bill that allows for a bit of park land near the field to change designation and be included as part of an $8 billion casino development project expected to be proposed by Cohen and Hard Rock International.

The legislation doesn't guarantee Cohen will get one of the three available casino licenses, but merely allows him to put in a bid before the June 27 deadline.

Winners are expected to be selected by the end of the year.

The senator who represents the land around Citi Field, Sen. Jessica Ramos, spoke passionately against the project. Still, the Senate swiftly and overwhelming voted to approve the land-use bill — 54-5 — with no real debate.

Ramos (D-Queens) said that after a series of community town hall meetings and polls, she determined a casino "is not the kind of development my community deserves."

"It’s not the future I want to build for Elmhurst or Corona or any part of Queens," Ramos said. Her vote was not a surprise — she had refused to carry the land-use bill in the Senate and the home senator’s support is usually necessary for any land-redesignation bill to go forward in the State Legislature.

When Ramos balked, neighboring Sen. John Liu (D-Flushing) agreed to sponsor the bill in the Senate.

When he revived the bill, Liu told Newsday the land in question was not really park land but really parking lots around Citi Field. He noted that the legislation merely allows Cohen to bid for a license and that failure to pass the legislation would have killed the project even before bids were submitted formally.

"Cohen and team can’t even submit an application without this bill," Liu said recently at the State Capitol. He didn’t speak about the bill during Monday’s vote.

Importantly, the Senate acted just weeks after Las Vegas Sands quit its project to bid for a casino at the Nassau Coliseum. Though the company dropped out, some potential bidders and lobbyists are still working to see if a new partnership might take over the Long Island project, according to a source — though time is growing short to put together a partnership.

Meanwhile, Cohen’s project isn’t the lone one that needs help from Albany.

In the Bronx, Bally’s Corp. has been looking to propose a casino at a public golf course formally owned by the Trump Organization. The project also needs park land legislation.

But first, it also needs a "home rule" message from the New York City Council to request state legislation. And key members of the council have cast doubt on that prospect in the wake of the New York Times reporting Trump would receive a $115 million payment if Bally’s lands one of the casino licenses.

By Yancey Roy

yancey.roy@newsday.com@yanceyroy