Cohen Fires Back with Poll Showing Support for Citi Field Casino

Days after the release of a poll that showed little local support for the Metropolitan Park casino proposal at Citi Field in Queens, New York Mets owner Steve Cohen has released his own polling that tells a different story.

The new poll, released on Tuesday by Cohen and Queens Future, showed that 62 percent of voters in Senate District 13 supported building a casino in the district, along with 75 percent of all registered voters in Queens as a whole.

District 13 is the city sector where Citi Field sits, and where the Metropolitan Park project would be completed. It’s also the district represented by New York State Senator Jessica Ramos (D-Jackson Heights), who has strongly opposed the casino project.

Cohen Poll Contradicts Ramos Survey

On Monday, a poll funded by an anonymous Ramos donor and conducted by Slingshot Strategies found that 75 percent of her constituents were against the casino. 

One difference between the two polls came in who was surveyed. The Ramos poll spoke to 432 respondents in District 13. Meanwhile, the Cohen poll surveyed 600 registered voters in Queens, 250 of whom lived in SD 13. 

Karl Rickett, a spokesperson for Cohen, said that the timing of the two polls was coincidental. The fact that the Cohen poll was taken between March 15 and March 23 does indicate that the survey was completed well before the Slingshot Strategies polling numbers were released. 

The fact that the two surveys came to starkly different conclusions is hardly surprising. Neither poll appears designed to accurately judge public opinion, with both using leading language to get results that support the positions of those backing the surveys.

For instance, the Ramos poll referred to “lucrative private development for billionaires,” according to Politico, and seemed designed to test messaging for the Phoenix Meadows plan, a proposal that would build a new park above parking lots instead of using that land for a casino complex. 

Meanwhile, the poll that Cohen commissioned asked residents if they would be less likely to support Ramos if she opposed the casino development, while touting other benefits like $1 billion in community benefits and 15,000 new jobs created. Not surprisingly, the Cohen poll found that 88 percent of voters in Ramos’ district supported those aspects of the plan.

“Of course, it’s different – that’s how polls work by design. It’s the science of asking questions in order to find what you want to find,” Ramos told the Queens Chronicle. “I don’t think that I should make such an important decision based on only data that’s been created by the person making the proposal themselves.”

Competitive Bidding for Casino Licenses

If the Metropolitan Park project has any chance of winning one of the three downstate casino licenses up for grabs in New York, it would almost certainly need Ramos’ support. Citi Field’s parking lots are legally considered parkland, and the New York State Legislature will have to pass a bill to alienate the site and allow for the casino and other new developments. 

Assemblyman Jeff Aubry (D-Corona) has introduced legislation that would do just that. However, traditionally, both the local representative in the Assembly and the Senate must sponsor such a bill for it to be considered. Ramos hasn’t made a final decision yet, but has come out publicly against the plan. The state senator says she will make a final decision by mid-May. 

Even if Ramos does eventually support the Metropolitan Park development, the project faces stiff competition. At least 11 bidders in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester are fighting for a maximum of three New York casino licenses, with heavy hitters such as Wynn, Resorts World, Sands, Caesars and Bally’s all in the mix for the lucrative opportunity. 

(Image: Anthony Behar/Sipa US/Alamy)