The New York Mets wanted to try and offset the loss of revenue from the Bernie Madoff scandal with a casino complex located next to their home stadium at Citi Field.
According to ESPN.com and the NY Post, Sterling Equities, the real estate company operated by Mets owner Fred Wilpon and family, had originally pitched a casino idea for the lot adjacent to Citi Field in September of 2011 and tried to make an offer to the city to buy a large amount of land to build it on. The news report came out on Tuesday.
The report says: Sterling Equities even lined up the Shinnecock Indian nation to operate the casino, but a live-dealer casino is not legal in New York except on tribal lands, making it infeasible at that point, according to the report.
Instead of the 62 acre area, the company was given a smaller amount of 23 acres in June where they could construct a $3 billion entertainment complex, but no casino. The team is considering what to build on the site, including a shopping center as well as restaurants and stores.
"The submission that included a gaming use was quickly dismissed as unviable," a spokesman with the city's Economic Development Corp. told the Post. "A different plan is now moving through the approvals process for a project that will create a dynamic new destination, hundreds of units of affordable housing, and thousands of jobs."
The casino proposal came out during a time when the Mets were worried about the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme and what they may lose as a result of it. There was a settlement between the parties that was not as much as the Wilpons had expected. The team did not coment on the casino report yet, but a spokesman for Sterling-Related said it's "focused" on the project the mayor endorsed.
City officials rejected the Mets' plan of the casino "partly because they thought the government-approval process would take too long," according to the Post.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Legislature are considering a constitutional amendment to bring legalized casino gambling to New York, while a casino has already opened near the Aqueduct race track not far from Citi Field in Queens.
According to the Post, The Mets have lowered payroll to about $93 million this season, down from $143 million in 2011, when the team lost $70 million. The financial issues for the Mets has been the biggest story about the team over the past few years, including when the team asked for MLB approval to take an extra $40 million bank loan on top of the $25 million loan the league gave them a year earlier.
Geoffrey Croft of NYC Park Advocates says neither plan is a good option.
Regarding the original 900,000-square-foot casino plan, he said, "it's hard to think of anything more corrupt than putting a casino in the middle of low-income communities."
The Mets went just 74-88 last season and finished in fourth place in the NL East behind the Phillies and ahead of the Marlins. The team won its final game of the season 4-2 against Miami.
