“Seeing the boards, one of the options, certainly, but I think they really want to hear what the community is interested in,” Parekh added. “It's all hypothetical but my from my point of view, I think they're looking for what the community is interested in,” said Hersh Parekh, who serves as the director of Government and Community Relations with the Port Authority but who said he was at the visioning session in his capacity as a Queens resident. The Eagle spotted only one sticky note displayed on a board from a previous visioning session that suggested a “casino, hotel help bring tourists to Flushing.”

The parking lot and neighboring Willets Point – which is undergoing a development of its own – have been suggested as possible landing spots for a gambling establishment.īut talk of the casino was downplayed by most in attendance and was rarely reflected in the responses they placed on the dozen boards and video displays, some of which prompted attendees with questions about gaming facilities. Cohen, who bought the team in 2020, has quietly been lobbying city and state officials about a potential bid to secure one of New York’s three downstate casino licenses, which will likely be granted at the end of the year. Looming over the event was the prospect of a casino in the corner of Northeast Queens. Shortly after the start of the Saturday event, the room was filled with hundreds of suggestions written on sticky notes. Participants made their way from station to station answering different prompts – “What changes would have the most impact for the Citi Field area,” “Year-round entertainment priorities,” “What would improve your day at the ballpark,” among others. It was the fourth such “visioning session” to be hosted by Cohen and his new group, Queens Future – the first three sessions were not publicly announced and a spokesperson for Cohen declined to share the names of the people and organizations in attendance.Īround a dozen stations were set up around the rotunda of the Piazza 31 Club, a private section of Citi Field that overlooks the stadium’s parking lots and the 7 train subway station. Over the weekend, around 450 Queens residents, civic leaders and elected officials took a rare January trip to the ballpark to share their thoughts on what they want to see built on the tract of land.

The hedge fund-billionaire’s eyes are instead fixed on the parking lot that surrounds Citi Field, a 50-acre stretch of city-owned land leased to the ball club but designated as parkland.

Steve Cohen, the owner of the Queens club, is dreaming too – but not about baseball. For fans of the New York Mets, the off-season is a time to dream of an improbable break from decades of mediocrity.

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