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When you take the 7 train to Queens, New York City, you will find empanada trucks, herbal medicine stores, temples, mosques, and churches. Soon, you also might find a casino.
In 2024, real estate developers Steve Cohen (the owner of the New York Mets baseball team) and Hard Rock International proposed building a casino on 78 acres of land (PDF) between two neighborhoods in Queens, Corona and Flushing. The $8 billion development called Metropolitan Park would include a hotel, parking lot, music venue, food hall, and a 25-acre park. New York State plans to give out three downstate casino licenses this year, and Metropolitan Park is 1 of 11 proposals under consideration.
Because some of the proposed area is public land, both the city and state governments need to approve the project. In March 2025, the New York City government approved the zoning changes for the project. Next, it will go to New York State government for approval. Senator John Liu, who represents Flushing, has introduced a bill in support of the project. However, Senator Jessica Ramos, representing Corona, opposes the development, claiming her residents do not want it.
Thirteen community groups, led by the Flushing Workers Center, 89th Street Tenants Unidos, and the Guardians of Flushing Bay, also oppose it. They argue the casino could increase gambling rates, poverty, and rent prices, displacing residents and small businesses.
Here, we analyze how the development could put renters in Corona and Flushing at risk of displacement and how a casino and additional parking could affect the well-being of the area’s mostly Latine and Asian residents. We also highlight how state and city policymakers can use this public land in a way that benefits all residents.
1. Corona and Flushing residents already are squeezed by housing costs and are particularly vulnerable to displacement
Large developments often raise nearby rents (PDF) and property taxes. If residents and local businesses can’t afford these higher prices, they’re forced to move out or close their business, a process called displacement.
In Corona and Flushing, more than 75 percent of residents are renters, and many pay high housing costs. Over 15,800 renters spend more than half their income on rent.
Many Residents in Corona and Flushing Spend More Than Half Their Paycheck on Rent
Share of residents who spent more than half of their income on rent, 2023
With housing costs rising faster than incomes, many residents are vulnerable to displacement. If a large development like Metropolitan Park causes housing costs to rise, residents and small businesses could be forced to move out.
As part of their proposal, the developers announced they’re funding a 450-unit affordable housing building in Corona. However, developers have not published a detailed plan to prevent the displacement of the more than 50,000 renters in both neighborhoods.
2. Developing a casino near mostly Asian and Latine neighborhoods could increase gambling problems and poverty
Research shows that people living closer to casinos are more likely to gamble. In Philadelphia, people living closer to the city’s four casinos were 66 percent more likely to gamble than those who did not. Gambling can also trap people in a cycle of poverty (PDF), as people with low incomes are much more likely to gamble.
Metropolitan Park’s casino could lead to higher rates of gambling and poverty, affecting Corona and Flushing’s largely Latine and Asian populations.
In particular, Asian communities already face high rates of gambling problems and mental health issues. In Flushing, casinos outside New York run ads and bus routes to lure Asian residents, with 300–400 people riding buses to the casinos every day. Some residents say they rely on casinos “to make ends meet,” putting them at risk of developing a gambling problem.
3. The development would use public land to nearly double the current amount of parking spots
The public land where the developers want to build already has more than 7,000 parking spots. The new development would create an additional 6,327 parking spots (PDF), for a total of 13,750 spots.
Increasing parking can lead to more traffic, air pollution, and deaths from car accidents. In 2023, Queens had the highest number of pedestrian deaths caused by cars in the city.
Before the proposal moves forward, policymakers could consider how to use the public land to better address community needs
Public land is a rare opportunity for policymakers to use land in a way that benefits all communities. There is still time to reconsider how to best use the land before state lawmakers and the Gaming Commission vote on Metropolitan Park.
For example, New York City has an affordable housing crisis, and this public land could be used to create affordable housing through a community land trust. Based on previous developments that turned parking lots into affordable housing, this public land could create between 2,750 to 6,875 units of affordable housing.
Community land trusts allow residents to manage land and keep the housing there permanently affordable. When an apartment or house is sold or rented, the prices can’t increase past a certain percentage. Other city governments, like Salt Lake City, Utah, (PDF) and Irvine, California, used their public land to create community land trusts and more than 500 affordable housing units.
Residents and community groups have also expressed interest in creating a 65-acre park on the land. In Senator Ramos’s survey of Corona residents, 84 percent said they preferred a park over a casino.
If state lawmakers approve Metropolitan Park, developers and policymakers can still address the development’s potential effects on residents
Developers and policymakers could:
Develop strategies that prevent displacement in Corona and Flushing with residents and community groups.
Developers could create solutions with residents, as developers in Washington, DC, did before constructing the 11th Street Bridge Park.
Recognizing that the development could displace residents in a nearby historically Black neighborhood, developers asked more than 3,000 residents what they wanted from the development and published a plan to preserve (PDF) the neighborhood.
These solutions include a community land trust led by residents and workshops for more than 2,000 residents about their rights as renters. These actions ensure residents can weigh in on development in their neighborhood and keep them from getting priced out.
Ensure workers in Queens earn fair wages by creating worker-owned small businesses through Metropolitan Park.
More than 200 lawsuits have been filed by workers in Flushing and Corona claiming they have not been paid fairly.
To help ensure more workers are treated more fairly, New York City has an initiative to create more worker-owned small businesses. In a worker-owned small business, workers split the business’ profits and have a say in business decisions. This model can increase Queens workers’ pay and improve their working conditions.
Metropolitan Park could support this initiative by requiring worker-owned small businesses in the development’s proposed food hall.
Whether it’s a community land trust, a park, or worker-owned small businesses, this public land is an opportunity to listen to community needs and create something that will support—rather than uproot—Corona and Flushing residents.
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