‘We don’t want this’: Metropolitan Park casino protesters rally one last time ahead of gaming commission vote

Casino protesters on Dec. 14 rallied one last time in Corona ahead of Monday’s NYS Gaming Commission Board vote, which will determine whether they will grant licenses to three casino operators, including Metropolitan Park proposed next to Citi Field in Flushing and spearheaded by billionaire Steve Cohen.

Over a hundred protesters gathered at Corona Plaza yesterday at 2 p.m. to demand the gaming commission deny the licenses over concerns of economic damage and exploitation of working class residents with gambling addictions. Previous reporting by QNS has detailed the obstructive consequences of gambling addiction not only on individuals in the Asian American community — which is more vulnerable to gambling addiction — but the community as a whole.

“We don’t want this,” said Pastor Jim Swanson of of Faith Baptist Church in Corona, who spoke at the protest. “No way. Not here. Not in our neighborhood.”

The Dec. 14 protest kicked off with a series of chants — such as “No, no, no casino,” “Queens is not for sale,” and “Parks, not profits” — as organizers Graciela Quispe and Jack Hu led a procession from the plaza to the Park of the Americas. Once everyone was gathered, a handful of protesters delivered speeches, including State Sen. Jessica Ramos, and placed blame for the casino’s proposal on elected officials State Sen. John Liu and Gov. Kathy Hochul.

“Kathleen — you have a decision to make tomorrow,” Quispe said. “You can decide to stand with people, New Yorkers who you are supposed to represent. Or you can decide to stand with a billionaire robber baron. Choose wisely.”

Graciela Quispe, a Corona resident who helped lead Sunday’s protest, criticized Gov. Kathy Hochul’s participation in making the Metropolitan Park casino project possible and vowed to fight against her re-election campaign next year.Renee DeLorenzo

Protesters also drew attention to Cohen, whose hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors pleaded guilty to insider trading and securities fraud in 2013, arguing he is unfit to lead the project on the basis of his moral character.

Supporters of the casino project pointed out that Cohen himself was not charged with any wrongdoing and advocated for his character, claiming he has been a loyal partner to the community every step of the way.

“Cohen and his team have gone above and beyond in making sure this is an opportunity for all of Queens,” said Shimi Pelman, Queens District leader 27-B in a November 2023 press release.

“Now with Steve Cohen, we are finally seeing investment, creativity, and energy not just with the team but with the entire fan experience,” added Darren Meenan, of The 7 Line Army, in the same press release.

The Metropolitan Park team has pointed to several polls and key votes by community boards, the City Council, state legislature and the entire Community Advisory Committee appointed to oversee the project’s approval that suggest widespread support for the casino itself. One poll by Schoen Cooperman Research in March 2024 shows 76 percent of the borough and 62 percent of Senate District 13 — encompassing Corona, Jackson Heights and East Elmhurst — directly supporting the “casino gaming” aspect of the project. The report says surveys were conducted in English and Spanish, but did not specify any other languages such as Chinese or Korean.

Protesters marched from Corona Plaza to the Park of the Americas holding signs and chanting “No, no, no casino,” “Queens is not for sale,” and “Parks, not profits.” Photo by Renee DeLorenzo

Protesters said they don’t trust any polling that comes from the casino team, expressing they felt it “wasn’t transparent” and hid the true nature of the entertainment venue as a casino based on feedback from community members.

Swanson, a resident of East Elmhurst, claimed that a couple of months ago, someone with a clipboard knocked on the door to his home asking to speak with him about a “family-friendly” entertainment center next to Citi Field.

“They were in the neighborhood trying to get people to sign something in favor of [the casino],” Swanson recalled. “I said, ‘Tell me about it.’ They’re explaining it to me, but it was all a bait-and-switch, because nothing was said about a casino at all.”

Once the man with the clipboard finished, Swanson said he asked if the center in question was a casino. “He was stuttering and stammering,” he said, eventually telling him he did not want the casino in the neighborhood.

“There’s nothing good a casino will add to our community,” Swanson asserted. “Steve Cohen and John Liu — if you want it, then put it in your house. Not in our backyard.”

Pastor Jim Swanson criticized the Metropolitan Park casino team’s polling process, claiming their tactics were misleading and they were not fully transparent as to the nature of the entertainment venue they asked local residents to support. Photo by Renee DeLorenzo

The casino team, on the other hand, claimed the process has been entirely transparent, noting the 16 community workshops, over 20 public hearings, six community board votes and two CAC meetings held prior to the gaming commission’s vote today. Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, who supports the project, also advocated for the team’s extensive process engaging with the community.

“They literally went to every corner of this earth to make sure that they spoke to everybody,” Richards said after the unanimous CAC vote in September. “I think what made this plan much different than a lot of larger economic development projects is they listened first. They didn’t come into Queens and just shove a plan down our throat.”

Fulton Hou, a lifelong Flushing resident who has been involved in the anti-casino movement since March, argued support was instead manufactured. He said he attended several community board and community advisory committee meetings leading up to their vote in support of the project.

“I think, more or less, every step of the way is not designed for the regular person or a working family to participate,” Hou said. “It’s difficult for the average person to know what the actual truth is and the details behind these projects.”

He noted that many meetings were at inconvenient times for many younger residents who are in college or working-class residents who cannot afford to take off work. One meeting, he recalled, began at 10 a.m. and another at 4 p.m., both during regular work hours.

Hou said at the beginning of one Community Board 7 meeting he attended, speakers were already lined up to speak in favor of the project. Some supporters, he continued, identified themselves as residents of communities outside of the district the casino is proposed in.

However, Hou said once residents of Flushing lined up to speak, none of them were in favor. “They manufacture this idea that the community supports this,” Hou said.

Nearly 100 protesters holding various anti-casino signs criticized State Sen. John Liu, Gov. Kathy Hochul and the casino lobby for selling out the community for the profit interests of billionaire Steve Cohen. Photo by Renee DeLorenzo

Last year, Ramos said she conducted three town halls, an online survey and a traditional poll directly asking over 400 residents across all demographics, gender identities and economic brackets whether they supported a casino in the community. Her poll found that over 70 percent of residents in her district — Corona, East Elmhurst, and Jackson Heights — said no.

Ramos claimed the Schoen Cooperman Research poll sanctioned by the Metropolitan Park casino team was more about proving there was support for the casino, leaving mention of the casino in the “fine print.” While she acknowledged some support for the casino did exist in the community — particularly in Assembly District 35 — she claimed it did not represent a majority of Queens or her own senate district.

The Metropolitan Park team claimed the casino is necessary for all other aspects of the project because it serves as the economic engine. Without the casino, supporters of the project say, there would be no way of generating profit to support the promised union jobs, infrastructure enhancements, park space, food hall, concert venue or family-friendly amenities included in the proposal.

“This is generational wealth building, as far as jobs go,” said Thomas Grech, president of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, adding that there is a lot of support for the project from the small business community.

However, Ramos argued the space does not have to be utilized for something that generates profit at all. “We could just accept its natural state and make it wholesome entertainment for the entire family,” she said, suggesting canoeing, kayaking and other nature-inspired activities.

She added that she was surprised to see so many elected officials who present themselves as “progressives” and “social democrats” supporting a billionaire’s plan to turn public space into private entertainment, which protesters view as exploiting the community.

Konce Quispe, who recited a poem during the Sunday protest, said she refused to thank the casino team for investing in Queens when all it’s doing is squeezing money from working-class residents to fund projects that could easily be paid for using a progressive tax on the wealthy — a sentiment echoed by the rest of the protesters.

“To take money from the most vulnerable people in our society, to then fund public projects that are purportedly supposed to help those very same people — it’s a contradiction in tax policy,” Jack Hu explained.

The only groups truly benefiting from the casino, he said, are the casino lobby and politicians who support it.

State Sen. Jessica Ramos said her own polling, which she conducted in her district representing Corona, East Elmhurst and Jackson Heights, revealed residents overwhelmingly disapproved of the casino itself. Photo by Renee DeLorenzo

The Metropolitan Park team has also repeatedly claimed it does not want gambling addicts to visit its casino, claiming it would provide support services for those impacted by addiction. Vicki L. Been, chair of the NYS Gaming Facility Location Board, said earlier this month that the board pressed the casino teams about how it would support gambling addicts before recommending licenses be granted by the gaming commission on Dec. 1.

However, protesters said the fact that they are providing these services just proves that these casino operators know exactly what they are doing — taking money from working class people suffering from mental illness. An October 2024 study by the University of Massachusetts Amherst shows that while proximity to casinos does not cause or worsen problem gambling behaviors in communities, 90 percent of revenue at casinos come from at-risk or problem gamblers.

Helina Lo, a 16-year-old Flushing resident who had already been involved in nonprofit work that led her to connect with anti-casino organizers last year, said she’s personally witnessed this damaging phenomenon.

“Growing up, I’ve always known casinos and gambling are not good for immigrants,” she said. “I hear stories about other immigrants that my parents know who gamble their lives away.”

Lo said she has seen buses come to pick up elders in her community, which has many Asian American immigrants, and transport them to casinos for long periods of time. “They hold them there the entire day,” she said.

The longer they are kept at the casino, she explained, the more money it can extract out of them — something that she said has left a lasting impression on her views of casinos.

Residents of all ages attended the rally, demanding the casino be rejected and replacing the project with family-friendly amenities. Photo by Renee DeLorenzo

The Flushing teen said she spoke at a CAC meeting in November 2024 opposing the Metropolitan Park casino project, recalling what she felt were deceptive ways the casino team were advertising the project.

“As they presented it, I realized it was all a facade,” she said. “I was hearing how they were packaging it and basically tying a ribbon around it.”

At another CAC meeting in September, Lo said she wasn’t planning on speaking but eventually walked up to the committee in tears. “I said, ‘I’m sorry I’m crying, but you let us all down,’” Lo recalled saying. “[They] refuse to talk about displacement or harm. The fact that they were in this room but didn’t engage on a deeper level was just frustrating to me.”

During Thanksgiving break, Lo said, she spent her time off from school walking around her neighborhood knocking on doors in apartment buildings — one that was 15 stories high, she remembered — telling them it was their last chance to tell their elected officials they did not want the casino. The overwhelming response from residents she spoke with, Lo said, was that they didn’t want it.

She recalled explaining the casino project to an older resident, a grandmother who was not proficient in English whom Lo spoke with in Chinese. After giving the resident a number to call her elected leaders and express her opposition, the resident promptly asked Lo to help her make the call, unsure of how to do it herself.

“I just don’t think this is accessible to these people,” Lo said. “It’s all these elderly residents and people who actually live here who are impacted who don’t have a way of reaching out.”

The gaming commission will be announcing its decision today during its meeting at Robert F. Smith Center for the Performing Arts, in Manhattan, from 1 to 3 p.m. A small group of protesters who rallied on Sunday plan on attending.

After marching to the Park of the Americas, protesters took turns speaking out against local elected officials and the casino lobby for selling out the working-class community. Photo by Renee DeLorenzo