Anti-casino rally in Flushing draws hundreds in protest of casino developer, Gov. Hochul and Sen. Liu

An anti-casino rally drew nearly a thousand protesters, who gathered in front of the Queens Public Library, in Flushing, on Nov. 16 demanding state Sen. John Liu and Gov. Kathy Hochul withdraw their support of a proposed casino development next to Citi Field.

The casino proposal is part of the Metropolitan Park project aimed at transforming 50 acres of Citi Field parking lot into an entertainment complex that would feature not only the casino but shops, restaurants and a public park. Additional details were reported on by QNS last month.

Metropolitan Park is spearheaded by Steve Cohen, who bought the New York Mets for $2.4 billion in 2020, and Hard Rock International. According to Forbes, Cohen has a net worth of $23 billion and his hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors pleaded guilty to insider trading and securities fraud in 2013, forcing the firm to pay a $1.8 billion penalty. Cohen himself was never charged by prosecutors and rebranded the firm as a family office called Point72 Asset Management.

Queens protesters criticized Cohen and said the development was “irresponsible,” alleging Liu and Hochul have “sold out” and been “bought” by the billionaire. Some cited an op-ed penned by Liu in March 2024 acknowledging that casinos target Asian-American communities through “aggressive ad targeting” and lead to “problem gambling, addiction, and other social, economic and health concerns.”

Protesters gathered on Main Street at 1 p.m. with their handmade signs, shouting chants demanding state officials reject the casino spearheaded by New York Mets owner Steve Cohen. Photo by Renee DeLorenzo

According to a 2009 Columbia University study, 2.3 percent of Native/Asian Americans are disordered gamblers, which is almost twice the rate of White Americans, at 1.2 percent. Statistical Atlas shows 71 percent of Flushing identifies as Asian.

Several studies suggest that cultural aspects contributed to Asian immigrants’ gambling addictions, such as poverty, low wages, stress, desire to improve family finances and struggles to integrate into American culture. Additional insights can be found at New York Council on Problem Gambling.

Gambling has also been linked to depression and suicide through extensive research over the course of decades. According to a 2022 Frontiers in Public Health study published by the National Library of Medicine, for example, gambling is a contributor to suicidality and is connected to debt and feelings of shame. The only effective way of combating it, the study concluded, is through a comprehensive public health approach that includes less gambling accessibility and more regulation.

Nonetheless, the Community Advisory Committee unanimously voted in support of the casino on Sept. 30. The committee consisted of six members, including appointees by the governor, mayor, borough president, and the district’s assemblymember, state senator and council member.

Protesters held signs and props to express their opposition to casinos in the neighborhood, claiming the casino would devastate the Flushing community. Photo by Renee DeLorenzo

Jack Hu, an organizer of the anti-casino movement and lifelong resident of Flushing, alleged the committee only voted in support of the casino because members “took lobbying dollars from Metropolitan Park.” He said the developer “manufactured consent” from the committee and made it appear as though the community is fully in support of the casino despite the overwhelming opposition demonstrated during the Nov. 16 protest.

“They use their influence on that community board to lobby all the committee board members to vote for it,” Hu claimed. “And then what happens is Metropolitan Park comes out and says ‘we have unanimous consent’… And so, our group, our position from the get-go, has been that this is a completely unfair process.”

Hu said Liu, an Asian-American who immigrated with his family from Taiwan when he was 5-years old, should understand how predatory casinos are and how it disproportionately harms the Asian-American community. He also drew attention to Liu’s 2024 op-ed.

“[Liu] called the casino predatory because he knows the harm it would do,” Hu said. “And then he completely reverses his position after talking to Steve Cohen. I would ask the public, ‘What do you think happened?’”

Organizer Jack Hu called Steve Cohen a “billionaire robber-baron” and demanded State Sen. John Liu and Gov. Kathy Hochul stop selling Flushing out to billionaires and corporations. Photo by Renee DeLorenzo

Several speakers took to the microphone during the rally, delivering passionate speeches which were all translated in English, Spanish and Mandarin.

“How dare they look to prey on us at this time in 2025,” said Andrew Sokolof Díaz, a member of the 89th Street Tenants Unidos Association. “Look how we are doing. Look how we are struggling. It is time for working people to be heard… My friends, this casino process is a sham. We have the power to stop this.”

Díaz referenced public testimony made by Vivian Liu, a researcher at Urban Institute, on Sept. 18 that claimed the casino could displace 50,000 residents in Flushing and Corona due to increased rent and housing prices as a result of the $8 billion project.

The researcher referenced the High Line in Manhattan, which opened in 2009 and cost $152.3 million, which raised rent prices in the nearby area by 68 percent from 2009-18.

She also alleged the casino could increase poverty in the area, citing a case study in Philadelphia that focused on four casinos and found three of them were located in areas where people are vulnerable to problem gambling.

A 2014 report by American Indian Law Journal states that economically, poverty rates have increased in communities where casinos were built, contrary to assumptions that it would bring in capital and reduce poverty. It found that poverty increased from 25 percent to 29 percent in the region it studied. A more recent study, published on Nature.com in 2023, also demonstrates the link between casinos and poverty.

Two protesters hold a sign claiming that the casino proposal gambles with the Flushing community’s future. Photo by Renee DeLorenzo

Bao Jin Qiu, a Flushing resident and retired home care worker, argued that it does not just impact the individual gambler, but it had consequences for entire families. She delivered a passionate speech in Mandarin, which was then translated by an emcee, about her family’s experience with gambling addiction.

“My husband and my three sons fell into gambling,” said the emcee translating Qiu’s speech. “Gambling has destroyed my family and many families like mine. This is about our whole community. Yet Liu dared to claim that he represented us to support the casino. John Liu, if you don’t right your wrong, you should not be our representative.”

Bao Jin Qiu, a Flushing resident and retired home care workers, said gambling destroyed her family and will only destroy the rest of the community if the casino proposal is approved. Photo by Renee DeLorenzo

Imam Benyahya, director of the Muslim Center of New York, where a town hall against the casino was hosted on Oct. 19, said the casino would harm the community as a whole and pointed out the difficulties many in the community already face affording rent and other necessities.

The casino could eat away at retired seniors’ savings, Benyahya worried, or target young people still in high school or college. “It’s really interesting how our officials — they think for our benefits and our good,” he said in a sarcastic tone.

It’s Liu’s job to represent the community and their needs, Benyahya continued, and he feels deceived by the state senator considering Liu’s previous opposition to casinos. “He’s turning his face from us,” Benyahya said. “We are the people that elected him. We want him to serve us.”

Pastor Dave Smith, of Queens Christian Alliance Church, said it was important to remember that while the group stood in solidarity against the casino, they stood in support of something as well — the community itself.

“Here we are anti-casino, we are against something,” Smith said. “But it’s also important to say we are for something. We are for families. We are for children. We are for young people. We are here because those are the people we need to reach out and care for.”

Pastor Dave Smith, of Queens Christian Alliance Church, said not only does the community stand against the casino, but it stands in support of families and neighbors. Photo by Renee DeLorenzo

Hu, the last speaker at the rally, led an energetic group chant demanding Liu and Hochul prove to the people of Queens they will not only oppose the casino, but apologize to the people they betrayed.

“You have the opportunity to prove to us that you will do the right thing,” Hu said of the state officials. “That even though our political system has been overrun by billionaires and corporations, that our governor cares about ordinary people like us. That when ordinary people like us take to the streets, that you will not allow that blood-sucking billionaire robber-baron with no moral character to systematically pick apart our community for another piece of art to hang in his mansion.”

Protesters plan on picketing against the casino tonight during the gaming commission’s general meeting at St. John’s University from 4 to 8 p.m., as well as on Wednesday at the gaming commission’s office in Manhattan, on 3rd Avenue, from 5 to 6 p.m.

A protester signs a large banner on the stairs of the Queens Public Library, claiming Queens is for the working people. Photo by Renee DeLorenzo

A protester holds a sign asserting that Queens is not for sale. Photo by Renee DeLorenzo

Protesters hold signs and shout “Shame on Liu” during the protest. Photo by Renee DeLorenzo

A protester’s sign criticized Gov. Kathy Hochul, alleging she is stealing the souls of Queens residents by supporting the casino. Photo by Renee DeLorenzo

Signs express that state officials like State Sen. John Liu are “selling out” the Queens community by supporting the casino. Photo by Renee DeLorenzo