Profligate Mets owner Steve Cohen is a huge step closer to getting the state approval he needs for his much-desired Citi Field casino. On Sunday, Cohen held a press conference in Flushing to announce that State Senator John Liu would be introducing a parkland alienation bill in the State Senate, pulling a crucial lever that Cohen needs to turn his dream into an endless money-sucking machine. Raise that big giant centerfield apple! More like "meet the B-E-T-S," amirite?
Despite spending millions of dollars on lobbyists and spending thousands in campaign donations to local politicians, Cohen had been stymied in his pursuit of the casino by State Senator Jessica Ramos, who refused to introduce a parkland alienation bill last May, citing the lack of community support for the project.
At the time, Cohen pledged to find a way to still pass parkland alienation, possibly by having another legislator introduce the bill—and in Liu, the former New York City comptroller, he found his guy.
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