A bid to put a casino in Queens near Citi Field has support from a majority of the borough’s residents, according to a poll commissioned by the group pushing the plan.
The survey, conducted by Schoen Cooperman Research, apparently expanded its reach beyond the neighborhoods by the ballpark, potentially skewing the results away from neighbors who might be more critical.
Still, the poll reflected a broad boroughwide openness to a casino in northern Queens. Developers in crowded Manhattan — where pushback to a stable of bids has been fierce — might blush at the findings.
A two-page polling memo from Schoen Cooperman Research to a lobbying firm behind the Citi Field casino plan, New Green Willets, said 78% of respondents supported the project when briefed in detail.
Sixty-five percent became more supportive of the blueprint when informed it would include a “live music venue, casino gaming, and conference spaces,” said the memo, which was dated Monday.
The poll of 600 Queens residents was carried out from April 7 to April 14, according to the memo. It did not provide a breakdown of what neighborhoods were polled, nor did Karl Rickett, a spokesman for the project.
In January, New York State launched a high-stakes bidding process to award three $500 million downstate casino licenses to deep-pocketed developers.
Two licenses are expected to go to existing so-called racinos in Yonkers and southeast Queens, leaving at least nine competitors vying for the final license.
The state has centered community input in the process. City bids require two-thirds approval from panels with representatives of the mayor, the governor, the local Assembly member and state senator, the local City Council member and the local borough president.
The boards could provide tough tests for developers.
In northern Queens, Steve Cohen, the owner of the New York Mets, has played the expected Citi Field bid close to his chest, as his team works to whip up local support.
The concept, which would put the casino on 50 blocks of asphalt by the ballpark, has still met with some resistance. In March, opponents held a news conference at a library in Flushing, urging local officials to reject the casino pitch.
But the bid has not been publicly rejected by the local community board, setting it apart from five Manhattan plans. Queens Community Board 7 did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
In a statewide Siena College survey conducted in January, 38% of New York voters supported the idea of a Manhattan casino and 38% opposed the idea.
Bids are also underway in the Bronx and at Coney Island in Brooklyn.
And though Mayor Adams has said he wants the casino in the city, a plan to put a casino at the Nassau Coliseum site on Long Island is viewed as an early favorite.