An anti-casino rally drew practically a thousand protesters, who gathered in entrance of the Queens Public Library, in Flushing, on Nov. 16 demanding state Sen. John Liu and Gov. Kathy Hochul withdraw their assist of a proposed on line casino growth subsequent to Citi Area.
The on line casino proposal is a part of the Metropolitan Park challenge aimed toward remodeling 50 acres of Citi Area parking zone into an leisure advanced that will characteristic not solely the on line casino however outlets, eating places and a public park. Further particulars have been reported on by QNS final month.
Metropolitan Park is spearheaded by Steve Cohen, who purchased the New York Mets for $2.4 billion in 2020, and Exhausting Rock Worldwide. In response to Forbes, Cohen has a web price of $23 billion and pleaded responsible to insider buying and selling expenses in 2013, ending his hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors and forcing him to pay a $1.2 billion penalty.
Queens protesters criticized Cohen and mentioned the event was “irresponsible,” alleging Liu and Hochul have “sold out” and been “bought” by the billionaire. Some cited an op-ed penned by Liu in March 2024 acknowledging that casinos goal Asian-American communities by way of “aggressive ad targeting” and result in “problem gambling, addiction, and other social, economic and health concerns.”
Protesters gathered on Primary Road at 1 p.m. with their handmade indicators, shouting chants demanding state officers reject the on line casino spearheaded by New York Mets proprietor Steve Cohen. Photograph by Renee DeLorenzo
In response to a 2009 Columbia College examine, 2.3 % of Native/Asian People are disordered gamblers, which is sort of twice the speed of White People, at 1.2 %. Statistical Atlas exhibits 71 % of Flushing identifies as Asian.
A number of research recommend that cultural elements contributed to Asian immigrants’ playing addictions, comparable to poverty, low wages, stress, need to enhance household funds and struggles to combine into American tradition. Further insights may be discovered at New York Council on Drawback Playing.
Playing has additionally been linked to melancholy and suicide by way of intensive analysis over the course of a long time. In response to a 2022 Frontiers in Public Well being examine revealed by the Nationwide Library of Medication, for instance, playing is a contributor to suicidality and is linked to debt and emotions of disgrace. The one efficient means of combating it, the examine concluded, is thru a complete public well being strategy that features much less playing accessibility and extra regulation.
Nonetheless, the Neighborhood Advisory Committee unanimously voted in assist of the on line casino on Sept. 30. The committee consisted of six members, together with appointees by the governor, mayor, borough president, and the district’s assemblymember, state senator and council member.
Protesters held indicators and props to precise their opposition to casinos within the neighborhood, claiming the on line casino would devastate the Flushing neighborhood. Photograph by Renee DeLorenzo
Jack Hu, an organizer of the anti-casino motion and lifelong resident of Flushing, alleged the committee solely voted in assist of the on line casino as a result of members “took lobbying dollars from Metropolitan Park.” He mentioned the developer “manufactured consent” from the committee and made it seem as if the neighborhood is totally in assist of the on line casino regardless of the overwhelming opposition demonstrated through the Nov. 16 protest.
“They use their influence on that community board to lobby all the committee board members to vote for it,” Hu claimed. “And then what happens is Metropolitan Park comes out and says ‘we have unanimous consent’… And so, our group, our position from the get-go, has been that this is a completely unfair process.”
Hu mentioned Liu, an Asian-American who immigrated together with his household from Taiwan when he was 5-years previous, ought to perceive how predatory casinos are and the way it disproportionately harms the Asian-American neighborhood. He additionally drew consideration to Liu’s 2024 op-ed.
“[Liu] called the casino predatory because he knows the harm it would do,” Hu mentioned. “And then he completely reverses his position after talking to Steve Cohen. I would ask the public, ‘What do you think happened?’”
Organizer Jack Hu known as Steve Cohen a “billionaire robber-baron” and demanded State Sen. John Liu and Gov. Kathy Hochul cease promoting Flushing out to billionaires and firms. Photograph by Renee DeLorenzo
A number of audio system took to the microphone through the rally, delivering passionate speeches which have been all translated in English, Spanish and Mandarin.
“How dare they look to prey on us at this time in 2025,” mentioned Andrew Sokolof Díaz, a member of the 89th Road Tenants Unidos Affiliation. “Look how we are doing. Look how we are struggling. It is time for working people to be heard… My friends, this casino process is a sham. We have the power to stop this.”
Díaz referenced public testimony made by Vivian Liu, a researcher at City Institute, on Sept. 18 that claimed the on line casino might displace 50,000 residents in Flushing and Corona resulting from elevated lease and housing costs because of the $8 billion challenge.
The researcher referenced the Excessive Line in Manhattan, which opened in 2009 and value $152.3 million, which raised lease costs within the close by space by 68 % from 2009-18.
She additionally alleged the on line casino might enhance poverty within the space, citing a case examine in Philadelphia that centered on 4 casinos and located three of them have been situated in areas the place individuals are weak to downside playing.
A 2014 report by American Indian Legislation Journal states that economically, poverty charges have elevated in communities the place casinos have been constructed, opposite to assumptions that it might usher in capital and cut back poverty. It discovered that poverty elevated from 25 % to 29 % within the area it studied. A newer examine, revealed on Nature.com in 2023, additionally demonstrates the hyperlink between casinos and poverty.
Two protesters maintain an indication claiming that the on line casino proposal gambles with the Flushing neighborhood’s future. Photograph by Renee DeLorenzo
Bao Jin Qiu, a Flushing resident and retired house care employee, argued that it doesn’t simply influence the person gambler, however it had penalties for complete households. She delivered a passionate speech in Mandarin, which was then translated by an emcee, about her household’s expertise with playing dependancy.
“My husband and my three sons fell into gambling,” mentioned the emcee translating Qiu’s speech. “Gambling has destroyed my family and many families like mine. This is about our whole community. Yet Liu dared to claim that he represented us to support the casino. John Liu, if you don’t right your wrong, you should not be our representative.”
Bao Jin Qiu, a Flushing resident and retired house care staff, mentioned playing destroyed her household and can solely destroy the remainder of the neighborhood if the on line casino proposal is accredited. Photograph by Renee DeLorenzo
Imam Benyahya, director of the Muslim Middle of New York, the place a city corridor towards the on line casino was hosted on Oct. 19, mentioned the on line casino would hurt the neighborhood as an entire and identified the difficulties many locally already face affording lease and different requirements.
The on line casino might eat away at retired seniors’ financial savings, Benyahya anxious, or goal younger individuals nonetheless in highschool or faculty. “It’s really interesting how our officials — they think for our benefits and our good,” he mentioned in a sarcastic tone.
It’s Liu’s job to characterize the neighborhood and their wants, Benyahya continued, and he feels deceived by the state senator contemplating Liu’s earlier opposition to casinos. “He’s turning his face from us,” Benyahya mentioned. “We are the people that elected him. We want him to serve us.”
Pastor Dave Smith, of Queens Christian Alliance Church, mentioned it was necessary to keep in mind that whereas the group stood in solidarity towards the on line casino, they stood in assist of one thing as properly — the neighborhood itself.
“Here we are anti-casino, we are against something,” Smith mentioned. “But it’s also important to say we are for something. We are for families. We are for children. We are for young people. We are here because those are the people we need to reach out and care for.”
Bao Jin Qiu, a Flushing resident and retired house care staff, mentioned playing destroyed her household and can solely destroy the remainder of the neighborhood if the on line casino proposal is accredited. Photograph by Renee DeLorenzo
Hu, the final speaker on the rally, led an brisk group chant demanding Liu and Hochul show to the individuals of Queens they won’t solely oppose the on line casino, however apologize to the individuals they betrayed.
“You have the opportunity to prove to us that you will do the right thing,” Hu mentioned of the state officers. “That even though our political system has been overrun by billionaires and corporations, that our governor cares about ordinary people like us. That when ordinary people like us take to the streets, that you will not allow that blood-sucking billionaire robber-baron with no moral character to systematically pick apart our community for another piece of art to hang in his mansion.”
Protesters plan on picketing towards the on line casino tonight through the gaming fee’s basic assembly at St. John’s College from 4 to eight p.m., in addition to on Wednesday on the gaming fee’s workplace in Manhattan, on third Avenue, from 5 to six p.m.
A protester indicators a big banner on the steps of the Queens Public Library, claiming Queens is for the working individuals. Photograph by Renee DeLorenzo
A protester holds an indication asserting that Queens just isn’t on the market. Photograph by Renee DeLorenzo
Protesters maintain indicators and shout “Shame on Liu” through the protest. Photograph by Renee DeLorenzo
A protester’s signal criticized Gov. Kathy Hochul, alleging she is stealing the souls of Queens residents by supporting the on line casino. Photograph by Renee DeLorenzo
Indicators specific that state officers like State Sen. John Liu are “selling out” the Queens neighborhood by supporting the on line casino. Photograph by Renee DeLorenzo
