Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Nancy Bannon’s temporary restraint could disrupt Cohen’s effort to secure a casino license, as it blocks the city from entering fresh deals tied to the Citi Field parking area.

The USTA argues that it has a superiority clause that affords it first access to the parking lot during the US Open. The lot in question is owned by the city but leased to the Mets. The USTA argued that the clause was violated earlier this year and any fresh agreements would violate it once again, especially if the casino bid is granted as expected.

“To ensure this essential suite of protections for the US Open, the Lease mandates a superiority clause in favor of the NTC,” reads the lawsuit. “Specifically, the Lease requires the City to include in every subsequently entered ‘deed, lease or license’ with third persons involving specified City-owned lands around the NTC facilities a statement: namely, that all rights granted under such subsequently entered deed, lease or license ‘are subject and subordinate in all respects to the rights of the USTA National Tennis Center’ (the Superiority Clause).”

Could this affect the Citi Field casino?

While the casino bid was expected to be approved in the next couple of weeks, this lawsuit could throw a spanner into the multi-million dollar works. A new agreement over the lot (which the judge has now blocked) was part of the promises made by the team behind the proposed casino, Metropolitan Park.

In their June application to the state’s Gaming Commission, Metropolitan Park stated that they would have a “negotiated binding agreement to control property no later than November 17, 2025 and a signed agreement before December 31, 2025.” However, this is now unable to move forward thanks to the judge’s temporary restraint.

It’s as yet unclear if this could endanger the license application. ReadWrite has reached out to both the USTA and Metropolitan Park for further details.

Featured image: Hard Rock

The post USTA lawsuit halts Queens casino plan over Citi Field parking dispute appeared first on Our Story Insight.

That brings the total number of New York casino proposals at this stage up to four, having all received approvals from their respective Community Advisory Committees. As well as the Citi Field location, the others at this stage are Genting Group’s Resorts World New York City, MGM Resorts’ MGM Empire City and Bally’s Bronx casino.

The Citi Field proposal gained the backing of a US Senator, with John Liu seeing potential in the $8 billion project that would see a casino being built next to Citi Field. The space involved is currently 50 acres of empty parking lots that would be transformed via the privately funded project into space dubbed Metropolitan Park.

The plan is to have 25 acres of new public park space, along with a Queens Food Hall, a Hard Rock Hotel, and a casino with bars, restaurants, and a sportsbook. It’s estimated that the proposal would generate around 23,000 local jobs, with a view to ingratiating itself with the local Queens community.

The path to a New York casino license

Other proposals that have been officially rejected include proposals regarding The Coney, Mohegan, Caesars, and Rush Street Gaming. While there are four proposals remaining, there are only three casino licenses available to be handed out, with a decision expected by December 1.

As it stands, Genting and MGM have been thought to be the most likely to be expected, with infrastructures already in place with existing racinos for both of them. That leaves one further place still up for grabs, of course, but the lengthy decision-making process on the future of New York’s casinos is finally drawing to a close.

Featured image: Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 2.0

The post New York’s Citi Field casino becomes fourth proposal to advance to the next stage appeared first on Our Story Insight.