Fresh off her only gubernatorial debate with Bruce Blakeman, Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday announced $10 million in state funding to build Jackson Heights’ first-ever community center, part of a development that will also include a pool and affordable housing.
The kicker: an additional $10 million came from Metropolitan Park, the controversial casino and entertainment complex planned next to Citi Field.
“We’re happy to accept the assistance of Metropolitan Park. They are a leader in this community. They’re a good neighbor, and we’re really happy to have them be able to support this,” Hochul said when asked about the funds from the casino developer.
The center will be built by the Variety Boys and Girls Club of Queens at 70-02 34th Ave., previously the site of BQE Billiards & Bar. The governor’s office called the package a historic $33.8 million investment. The rest of the funding comes from:
- $9.3 million secured by Council Member Shekar Krishnan and the New York City Council,
- $2 million from Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand,
- $1 million from Rep. Grace Meng,
- $1 million from Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas, and
- $250,000 each from Assembly Members Steven Raga and Catalina Cruz.
Once built, the center will include the neighborhood’s first community pool, basketball courts and a theater. It will serve 10,000 children and house afterschool, summer and educational programs, workforce training, and more.
The casino money ties the community center to one of the most controversial projects in Queens, being developed a few miles away. Metropolitan Park has been the subject of contentious debate: Supporters say the casino project will be an economic boon to the borough and revitalize an area that is currently parking lots. Critics say it will cause rent to rise and displace locals. They also voice concerns over gambling addiction.
Editor’s note: Epicenter aims to foster community engagement. In 2023, it promoted community forums on the development project, with paid support from Metropolitan Park, to encourage attendance. That content was labeled “sponsored” in its newsletters and on its website and social media.
All elected officials who helped fund the Jackson Heights community center, except for the U.S. senators, were present at the Wednesday press conference. Notably absent from the parade of speakers at the podium were two prominent politicians: Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who represents parts of the district alongside Meng. The mayor has said he is “skeptical” of casinos but will not stop their expansion.
Hochul has been campaigning in Queens, and her Jackson Heights stop comes just one week after Blakeman visited the neighborhood. The borough has drifted right in recent elections: President Donald Trump gained roughly 10 percentage points in the borough from 2020 to 2024, gaining support in neighborhoods like Jackson Heights and Corona. In 2022, Hochul trailed Republican challenger Lee Zeldin in parts of Queens. Three weeks before Election Day, she is polling 11 percentage points ahead of Blakeman among registered voters, according to the latest Marist Poll. Early voting begins Oct. 24.
The community center site, meanwhile, sits just a few blocks from neighborhood showing strong recent support for democratic-socialist and other left-wing candidates. Jackson Heights is one of the city’s more diverse communities with a longstanding shortage of public parkland that has frustrated residents. During the pandemic, a stretch of 26 blocks along 34th Avenue was closed to traffic during certain hours and dubbed Paseo Park, which remains today and offers programming such as dance, exercise and public art. The community center borders the park and is within walking distance of several schools.
Multiple officials describe the community center as a passion project of Krishnan, who represents the neighborhood and who has long advocated for the center. The council member said that the center will require more funding in order to finish the project.
“This has been a dream of ours for so long, and I’m so glad we finally achieved it,” he told Epicenter NYC. “I’m glad that we finally found a space, and then of course it always takes a coalition in government to get things done.”
The Jackson Heights center follows the state’s earlier support for the Boys & Girls’ Club’s community center in Astoria. That facility is part of a $300 million redevelopment with a pool, planetarium and 200 affordable housing units.
The announcement comes as immigration enforcement has rattled Jackson Heights: three people were arrested earlier this month at a church-owned parking lot adjacent to P.S. 280 bordering Corona, according to school correspondence and reporting by City Limits. Gothamist has reported that Queens leads the city with the most ICE arrests.
Cruz, who gave her remarks in both English and Spanish, described the center as a “safe space” for the neighborhood’s immigrant community at a time when, she said, ICE is “chasing our neighbors” on the other side of the neighborhood.
“And for the first time, we’re going to have the kind of space where people can come and do whatever they want to do,” Cruz said. “You want to swim a little, you want to play basketball, you want to learn something, you want to just simply come into the space because you feel safe.”
