The Citi Field casino, formally called Metropolitan Park, is an $8.1 billion casino, hotel, and entertainment complex approved for the 50-acre parking lot that surrounds the Mets’ ballpark in Queens. It is a joint project of Mets owner Steve Cohen and Hard Rock International, and it won one of three downstate New York casino licenses on December 15, 2025.1New York State Gaming Commission. Hard Rock Metropolitan Park Developers are aiming for a 2030 opening, though construction is already running behind schedule and a group of Queens residents is still trying to overturn the license in court.
What Would Be Built
Citi Field itself stays. The project wraps the ballpark with roughly 3.7 million square feet of new development on what is currently surface parking, and relocates that parking into new multi-level garages.2Metropolitan Park. Metropolitan Park Official Site3Metsmerized Online. Details Emerge for Metropolitan Park Project The casino floor is designed at about 286,000 square feet and would house 5,000 slot machines, 375 live dealer tables, 30 poker tables, and an 18,000-square-foot sportsbook.4New York State Gaming Commission. Hard Rock Metropolitan Park Executive Summary Supplement
Around the casino, the plan calls for:
- A 1,000-room hotel, including 393 suites.
- Hard Rock Live, a 5,650-seat theater.
- 18 food and beverage venues, including a Taste of Queens Food Hall.
- 25 acres of new parkland with athletic fields, bike paths, and plazas.
- Nearly 98,000 square feet of conference and meeting space.
- More than 20,000 square feet of retail.
These figures come from the developer’s supplemental application to the state Gaming Commission.4New York State Gaming Commission. Hard Rock Metropolitan Park Executive Summary Supplement
A separate piece of the vision, a pedestrian and bike bridge called the Skypark that would run from downtown Flushing across Flushing Creek to Willets Point, had not received all needed approvals as of early 2025. Cohen has committed to spending $100 million on improvements to Flushing Meadows Corona Park if the bridge cannot be built.5amNewYork. Flushing Skypark Greenway Metropolitan Park Agreement
Who Is Behind It
The developer is Queens Future LLC, a partnership between Cohen, who bought the Mets in 2020, and Seminole Hard Rock Entertainment. Hard Rock International will brand, manage, and operate both the casino and the hotel. The design team includes SHoP Architects, which designed the Barclays Center, and Field Operations, the landscape studio behind the High Line.6Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Metropolitan Park Project Vision
How It Got Approved
The project needed sign-offs at the state, city, and local level, and the sequence took roughly two years.
The first obstacle was that the Citi Field parking lot is legally designated city parkland. Commercial development there required state “parkland alienation” legislation. State Senator Jessica Ramos, whose district contains most of the site, publicly refused to carry the bill in May 2024, citing opposition from constituents, and introduced her own version banning any casino on the site.7CBS News New York. Metropolitan Park Casino Citi Field8Queens Eagle. Cohen’s Citi Field Casino Rejected by Local Pol The deadlock broke in March 2025 when State Senator John Liu, whose district includes about 12 acres of the site, agreed to introduce the bill instead, breaking with the Albany custom of deferring to the most local lawmaker on land use.9Queens Eagle. Queens Senator Agrees to Back Cohen’s Casino at Citi Field10New York State Senate. A6781B Parkland Alienation Legislation11New York State Senate. S7121A Parkland Alienation Legislation
At the city level, Metropolitan Park needed a rezoning to a new casino-specific designation and a de-mapping of several streets and parkland parcels.12New York City Department of City Planning. City Map Amendment C 250047 MMQ13Queens Eagle. Cohen’s Casino Plan Wins Over Community Boards14QNS. City Council Approves $8B Metropolitan Park
The last step was the state license itself. New York authorized up to three downstate commercial casinos in its 2022 budget, requiring a $500 million license fee and a minimum $500 million capital investment per project.15New York State Gaming Commission. Evaluation and Selection Metropolitan Park’s Community Advisory Committee, a six-member panel appointed by elected officials, voted unanimously on September 30, 2025, to advance the proposal.16New York State Gaming Commission. Metropolitan Park Community Advisory Committee The Gaming Facility Location Board selected the project on December 1, 2025, and the full Gaming Commission issued the license on December 15, 2025.1New York State Gaming Commission. Hard Rock Metropolitan Park
What the Neighborhood Would Get, and What Neighbors Say
The developer projects more than 23,000 jobs tied to the project, including roughly 17,100 construction jobs and 6,081 permanent positions once the complex opens, with average compensation of $140,000 for full-time employees including tips and benefits. The application projects $3.9 billion in annual revenue by the third year, generating an estimated $850 million per year in city and state taxes.4New York State Gaming Commission. Hard Rock Metropolitan Park Executive Summary Supplement
A separate $1 billion community benefits package, contingent on the license, includes $320 million for the 25 acres of parkland, $480 million for transit infrastructure (primarily a planned overhaul of the Mets–Willets Point 7 train station), a $163 million community impact trust for nonprofit grants, and $25 million for a health clinic in East Elmhurst, a youth and senior center in Corona, and addiction and mental health services in Flushing.17Metropolitan Park. Metropolitan Park Benefits As of early 2026, the MTA had not yet agreed to the subway station renovation.18Queens Eagle. Construction Prep Underway for Metropolitan Park Casino in Queens
Opposition from neighborhood groups has been steady throughout. At least thirteen organizations in Corona, Flushing, and nearby areas, including the Flushing Workers Center, 89th Street Tenants Unidos, the Guardians of Flushing Bay, the Fed Up Coalition, and the Western Queens Community Land Trust, have come out against the project.19Urban Institute. How Developing a Casino on Public Land in Queens Could Displace Nearby Residents20Queens Ledger. Community Split: Casino vs. Connectivity in Metropolitan Park They argue the casino will increase gambling addiction in communities already served by casino bus routes, particularly Asian immigrant neighborhoods; that an $8 billion development will raise rents and property taxes in an area where more than 75% of Corona and Flushing residents are renters; and that adding more than 6,300 parking spots to the existing 7,000 will worsen traffic and air quality already strained by Mets games and the U.S. Open. A survey by Senator Ramos found 84% of Corona respondents preferred a public park over a casino.
The city’s Final Environmental Impact Statement, with a Statement of Findings adopted on November 10, 2025, identified significant adverse traffic impacts at multiple intersections and highway segments, a capacity shortfall on the Q48 bus route, and significant pedestrian impacts on game days. It found no significant adverse impacts on air quality, public health, land use, or neighborhood character.21New York City CEQR Access. Statement of Findings – Queens Future Development Project
The Pending Lawsuit
Queens residents sued in March 2026 to overturn the license. The petition, led by Bernadette McCrann and brought as an Article 78 proceeding against the Gaming Commission, argued the public hearing process was skewed toward supporters, that Community Advisory Committee members had potential conflicts of interest, and that the Commission failed to adequately vet Cohen’s background.22Documented NY. Queens Casino Residents Lawsuit Refile
Judge Nicholas W. Moyne dismissed the case on March 27, 2026, on procedural grounds, finding it had been filed in the wrong county, and later recused himself citing a “tangential social relationship with a member of the respondent.”22Documented NY. Queens Casino Residents Lawsuit Refile The petitioners refiled in Queens County on April 13, 2026, and also sought a restraining order to stop construction. Queens Supreme Court Judge Timothy Dufficy heard the venue dispute on June 3, 2026, and said he would rule by July 1, 2026, on whether the case would proceed in Queens or go back to Manhattan.23Queens Ledger. Anti-Casino Lawsuit Drags on Over Venue Fight
Timeline and What’s Happening on the Site Now
As of May 2026, the project is running roughly five and a half months behind the construction schedule the developers submitted to the Gaming Commission. The plan had called for test piling on the parking garages to begin January 1, 2026, with full construction starting April 1. Test piling on one garage had recently begun, but broader construction had not.24Queens Eagle. Metropolitan Park Casino Construction Running Months Behind Schedule
Developers still say they are targeting a 2030 opening for the casino, food hall, public open space, and subway station improvements. The two parking garages are projected to finish in November 2027 and April 2028. Peak construction impacts are expected in the first quarter of 2029.24Queens Eagle. Metropolitan Park Casino Construction Running Months Behind Schedule21New York City CEQR Access. Statement of Findings – Queens Future Development Project The Gaming Commission has appointed independent monitors to produce quarterly reports on construction progress and compliance with the community benefits commitments.25Queens Eagle. Queens Gets the Jackpot
Not to Be Confused With the Other New York Casinos
Two other downstate casino licenses were issued the same day as Metropolitan Park’s. Resorts World New York City at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, a $7.5 billion project backed by the Genting Group, converted its existing video gambling facility to full-scale table games by April 2026.26New York Focus. NYC Casino Resorts World Horseracing Support Tax27CBS News New York. NY Downstate Casino State Board Vote Bally’s Bronx, a $4 billion project at the former Trump Organization golf course at Ferry Point, is projected to open around 2030.28Forbes. Bally’s Golf Links at Ferry Point Approved for $4 Billion Casino Hotel Only Metropolitan Park sits at Citi Field.