More than six months after the controversial Metropolitan Park casino project received approval from the New York State Gaming Commission, a new poll shows the proposal remains deeply unpopular among many Queens residents, especially Asian voters in Flushing.
The disapproval numbers are stark: 73% of Asian voters in New York’s 6th Congressional District and 79% of voters in Assembly District 40, which includes Downtown Flushing, opposed the casino.
The survey, commissioned by former congressional candidate Chuck Park’s campaign, was originally aimed to measure Park’s standing during his Democratic primary challenge against Rep. Grace Meng. In June, Park’s team asked more than 500 likely Democratic voters in New York’s 6th Congressional District about the proposed casino.
Overall, 61% opposed the project, while 20% supported it. Asian voters registered the highest level of opposition among all demographic groups surveyed.
“The findings of the poll didn’t surprise us at all. In fact, they validated what we had been hearing from the community,” Park said. “We were talking to people for months and months, and over and over again we heard the same thing: people don’t want this casino.”
Chinese community members told Documented that the anti-casino sentiment extends beyond the poll numbers. Residents cited concerns about public safety and the loss of public land, while also criticizing what they described as an exclusionary public approval process that failed to adequately engage first-generation immigrants with limited English proficiency. Many also voiced concerns about gambling addiction, which were rooted in personal experience.
The $8 billion Metropolitan Park proposal, backed by New York Mets owner Steve Cohen, would transform a 50-acre parking lot next to Citi Field into a sports and entertainment complex featuring a casino, hotel, entertainment venues and 25 acres of public park space. Developers say the project would create 23,000 union jobs and provide long-term economic benefits for Queens.
For Yuriko Zhang, a 23-year-old Flushing resident and educator, those purported benefits do not outweigh the potential harm.
She recalled the experience of someone she knows who developed a gambling addiction after frequenting underground gambling dens in the Chinese community in Queens. Zhang said. “I think it is definitely a poison that hurts a lot of members of our community.”
Research suggests those concerns are not unfounded. Some studies suggest that working-class Asian American immigrants face a heightened risk of developing gambling problems. A 2022 report by the New York Council on Problem Gambling described problem gambling in Asian communities as the “canary in the coal mine,” reflecting broader issues such as poverty, immigration-related stress, social isolation, and language barriers
Zhang said the community needs access to more affordable housing, not a new casino.
An NYU study found that the median household income in the Flushing and Whitestone area was $71,130 in 2024, about 15% lower than the citywide median of $83,970. The study also found that, as of 2024, the growth in median gross rent outpaced the growth in median household income by 17.3 percentage points.
“I feel like with the casino, it’s only going to exacerbate those already existing issues,” Zhang said. “It definitely is taking advantage of a community that isn’t super tapped into politics, so they aren’t aware of the changes that are happening, but also to a predominantly Asian low-income immigrant community that often has higher gambling rates.”
Fulton Hou, who was born and raised in Flushing, said he heard similar concerns while canvassing for Park’s campaign. Hou said he spoke with more than 1,000 residents during the campaign and found that worries about gambling were mentioned repeatedly.
“In the Flushing community, when we speak to people, it’s very common for us to encounter someone who has a family member, or knows of someone who’s gone to Resorts World at the Catskills or taking a bus to a different state,” Hou said. “They know how it has affected the families.”
Karl Rickett, a spokesperson for Metropolitan Park, said two polls conducted by Schoen Cooperman Research in May 2023 and March 2024 found that 78% and 80% of Queens residents, respectively, supported the project. He added that the findings were consistent with the 89% support rate the project received in public votes held after more than 30 community meetings.
“Our results speak for themselves. Two polls and approvals from six community boards, the City Council, State Legislature, Governor, Gaming Commission, and Community Advisory Committee make it clear that the community and its leaders want Metropolitan Park,” said Rickett in a statement.
But Hou argues that many Chinese immigrants were effectively excluded from that process.
According to Queens Daily Eagle, the 2023 Schoen Cooperman Research poll was commissioned by New Green Willets, the development group behind Metropolitan Park. At the time, a spokesperson for the group declined to share the demographic breakdown of the respondents. For the 2024 poll, news reports said the interviews were conducted in English and Spanish.
Hou said for many of the first-generation Chinese immigrants he spoke with, canvassing was the first time they had even heard about the proposed casino.
“In the first-generation immigrant community, many people do not know about certain resources from different city agencies,” said Hou. “Many people don’t know how to properly send in a mail-in ballot or how to call a local elected official’s office to tell them they’re against this project when they haven’t even heard about this project to begin with because no one really sought their opinion.”
Hou added that the outreach process for the casino was “flawed” and “anti-democratic.”
Park said another major concern among local residents is the potential for increased crime. He said the proposed casino would sit next to neighborhoods such as Flushing, Elmhurst, and Corona, which are home to many working-class and low-income immigrant communities. He said many residents believe the casino could create conditions that lead to human trafficking, labor trafficking, exploitation, and higher crime rates, negatively affecting the quality of life in surrounding neighborhoods.
Opposition to the project has also moved into the courts. Several Queens residents have filed lawsuits against the New York State Gaming Commission in Manhattan, challenging the casino license awarded to Queens Future LLC. The Flushing Workers Center has filed a separate lawsuit raising similar legal arguments. The case is still waiting to be heard.
Despite the project’s approval, opponents say their campaign is far from over.
“I still believe this casino can be stopped,” Park said. “The project has already been delayed, and it’s deeply unpopular.”
Jack Hu, a community organizer and one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the Gaming Commission, said residents intend to continue organizing and hold elected officials accountable for supporting the project.
“We can’t stop organizing just because the casino was approved,” Hu said. “As organizers and activists, we advocate for issues because they matter to us, no matter how hard it is. We’re going to continue to push.”
