Photos: Media nocasinofmcp / Photocomposition: @LatinosenNuevaYork
Originally planned as a town hall, community groups were informed on Wednesday, 4/29 that PS149 would be closed for an asbestos examination. Undeterred, community members gathered to rally against the casino and demanded Governor Hochul rescind the Metropolitan Park casino license. Outside the school entrance on 34th Avenue Open Streets, members of Queens Anti-casino, Working People For Queens, and 89th Street Tenants Union spoke, shaming Democratic Socialist Assemblymember Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas for supporting billionaire Steve Cohen’s casino project. Speakers announced ongoing lawsuits that had been filed against the NYS Gaming Commission to reverse its decision to issue the license and investigations into the amount of money Steve Cohen had poured into local elections and nonprofits.
Graciela Quispe, a lifelong Corona resident, said “shame on Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas and everyone that has supported this project and said that a casino is what will uplift our neighborhood. A casino will steal from our neighbors… Two casinos in Queens and one in the Bronx all within a 45 minute drive of each other. They’re planning something for our community that we are not a part of.”
Carlos Herrera, a restaurant worker with Working People For Queens, said “Every worker in Corona knows how the system exploits us. Bosses force us to work long hours… landlords raise rents… and now they want to build a mega-casino right next to our home, so they can steal even more.”
Andrew Sokolof Díaz, with 89th Street Tenants Union, demanded a stop to the casino and displacement, and accused local elected officials of working with Steve Cohen to “to sanitize our streets so they can jack the rents and Make the Road to displacement of working immigrant people.”
Danny Tsoi, from Queens Anti-casino, emphasized that the approval is “not a done deal,” pointing to the Amazon HQ 2 and luxury real estate projects in Chinatown that were stopped after their approval. “Queens residents, including some in our group, filed a lawsuit against the New York State Gaming Commission to invalidate (Metropolitan Park’s) license approval.”
Flushing resident Jack Hu accused Steve Cohen of trying to displace communities and “turn Roosevelt Avenue into 5th Avenue.” Hu called the upcoming local elections of Senator Jessica Ramos and Congressional candidate Chuck Park a “referendum against Steve Cohen’s oligarchy” and a choice between “the working people of Queens or a billionaire robber-baron.”
Senator Jessica Ramos and Congressional candidate Chuck Park also spoke.
Ramos said “I can think of a thousand different better ways that this plot of public land can be used to our advantage that will not benefit a criminal billionaire. I am very proud that I voted no against the casino… No amount of jobs that the casino may or may not bring is going to make up for the loss that’s going to happen in the community.”
Park called out Steve Cohen’s investments in weapons manufacturers and ICE detention centers. “Steve Cohen profits off the suffering of every single one of our communities, and that’s exactly what he hopes to do with this casino.”
Organizers have rescheduled their anti-casino town hall for May 16 10:30 AM at PS149.
Media Contact:
Queens Anti-casino, nocasinofmcp@gmail.com
Jack Hu, JackHu727@gmail.com, 646-529-1323
Sarah Ahn, (718) 600-0793, flushingworkers@gmail.com
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