Ali Najmi, the civil rights lawyer and Queens Democratic power broker who acted as Zohran Mamdani's election attorney before being tapped by the mayor to head up the City's commission on selecting local judges, has a brand new client: billionaire Mets owner Steve Cohen.
Cohen was awarded a state license last year to build a casino on City parkland next to Citi Field. His casino project company, Queens Future LLC, is being sued by a group of Queens residents in a civil case challenging whether the state's licensing process actually allowed for public comment, or whether that comment was unfairly stacked to only include those in favor of Cohen's casino, an $8 billion Hard Rock gaming complex known as Metropolitan Park.
Najmi's representation of Cohen raises eyebrows because the attorney, who bills himself as "the people's champ," is now representing one of the richest men in the world. Cohen's firm pleaded guilty to insider trading in 2013 and paid what was then the largest financial penalty ever leveled against a company for that offense, in his quest to build a controversial casino.