BY T’NEIL GOODEN
The Muslim Center of New York in Flushing opened its doors on October 19 to Queens residents protesting the possible construction of a casino at Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Earlier this year, Queens state Senator John Liu explained that he would introduce the bill to the Legislature about the casino, which would take over 50 acres of land from Flushing Meadows Corona Park, leaving locals furious.
“We at the Muslim Center are completely against this regime; it will hurt us, our families, our children, our friends, and our faith,” said Abdel Ghani, a member of the Muslim Center’s board.
Over 250 individuals came to the protest, many hailing from Flushing, Bayside, Jackson Heights, and Jamaica.
“Left and right, communities across New York City are rejecting a casino in their neighborhood. All three casino proposals in Manhattan were the first to reject theirs. Coney Island as well, and shockingly, last week, even Yonkers, pulled their casino project,” said Sarah Ahn, organizer with Flushing Workers Center.
Ahn explained that there are three more proposed casinos all within “a 14-mile radius of each other. Even the Bronx Casino is actually extremely close to Flushing. And the other proposal is in Jamaica, where they already have the Resource World,” a casino opened in 2011.
Baojin Qiu, a Flushing resident and home attendant, said, “My husband, my son are both gamblers. Our family is broken because of this. We sold our house, we sold our business, and now a casino in our own home. John Liu, you are breaking my family, shame on you!”
Lifelong Flushingite Jack Hu explained to the audience that before John Liu spoke with Steve Cohen, the billionaire Mets owner hoping to build the casino, Liu was against it. Then, in March, Liu met with Cohen and decided to support the Flushing casino.
“He drafted a bill to alienate the parkland and pushed it through the New York State Legislature in a record speed of three months,” Hu said. “Senator John Liu works harder and faster for a billionaire’s predatory casino than he has ever worked for you.”
Hu added, “We plan to turn out over 2,000 people at Flushing Library, and we’re going to demand that Senator John Liu, Governor Kathy Hochul, and the gaming facility location board strike down this casino.”
Former Queens state senator Tony Avella also expressed disagreement with the casino plan. “Unfortunately, this has not come up enough in the media,” he said. “Once you lose parkland, you never get it back. Parkland is here. And in my opinion, shame on any elected official who’s allowing parkland to be lost.”
The state is planning to award three downstate casino licenses. The Gaming Facility Location Board will evaluate each application and base its approval on the projected revenues, number of jobs, variety of amenities, and the development of the financial aspect of the gaming facility.
If approved, the casino will be built near Citi-Field with a casino, hotel, a theater, over 100,000 square feet of conference space, and other amenities. The lawmakers within Albany have already approved the use of the land within the Flushing area.