Survey Showed Queens Residents Support a Casino near Citi Field

A majority of Queens residents would favor a casino near Citi Field in Queens according to a survey conducted on behalf of the group pushing for the casino.

Residents Open to the Casino Idea

The survey was conducted by Schoen Cooperman Research on behalf of New Green Willets, the firm lobbying for the casino plan near Citi Field, from April 7 to April 14 among 600 Queens residents, according to the memo sent by the research agency to the lobbying firm on Monday.

The survey revealed that 78% of the borough residents supported the casino project upon receiving further details of the plan, while 65% of the respondents became more supportive as soon as they had been told that the casino hotel would also feature a live music venue and conference spaces, besides casino gaming.

The memo depicting an overall public openness to a casino in the area did not provide details about residents from which neighborhoods had participated in the survey or a geographical breakdown of the results.

The casino in northern Queens is competing with Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn and Long Island for one of three $500 downstate casino licenses but two of the licenses are expected to be awarded to existing racinos in Yonkers and southeast Queens, intensifying the competition for the final permit.

Community Input Is Key

The New York State launched the bidding process in January and bids are centered on community input, requiring a two-third approval from a panel of representatives, including the mayor, governor, local Assembly member, state Senator, local City Council member, and the local borough president.

The northern Queens casino project is pushed by New Green Willets, a lobbying company with close ties to the owner of the New York Mets, Steve Cohen, which is working behind the scenes to gather the required public support for the casino planned to be built on 50 blocks of asphalt by the ballpark.

The idea of a casino near Citi Field is not met without resistance: in March, its opponents gathered at a library in Flushing and held a press conference during which they urged the local authorities to reject the plan.

A survey conducted by Siena College in January revealed that support and opposition to a casino in Manhattan was balanced as 38% showed support of the idea and 38% opposed it.

Other candidates for one of the downstate casino licenses are seeking to build a casino in the Bronx and at Coney Island in Brooklyn, but an early favorite is seen in the project seeking to put a casino at the Nassau Coliseum site on Long Island.