Details Emerge for Metropolitan Park Project

One of the first questions many Mets fans have about the proposed Metropolitan Park project is simple. Where will I park? The $8 billion project is planned to cover 50 acres of asphalt parking lots around Citi Field.

Steve Cohen and Hard Rock International submitted a 366-page preliminary proposal Tuesday that answers that question, with renderings of three multi-level parking structures that will be erected near Citi Field. “The site is unlocked by relocating parking spaces from existing surface lots to new parking structures,” according to the proposal.

The Southfield Parking Structure will be eight levels high and sit near Roosevelt Avenue and Seaver Way. The Northfield Parking Structure will be built over Shea Road and allow for a covered public walkway from Willets Point to Metropolitan Park. The Taste of Queens structure, shown below, will also include parking.

Apart from parking, the proposal also provided many other new details. You will be able to stand in the grass in the same spot where The Beatles performed their iconic concert at Shea Stadium in 1965. Tulips, daffodils and rudbeckia, a heavy dose of the orange varieties, will be in abundance.

It was known that the project would include 25 acres of public park space and a Hard Rock Hotel with a casino. The proposal revealed that the architectural design at the top of the hotel will be made to look like the New York skyline found on the Mets logo. It was known there would be a live music venue called Hard Rock Live. The plan shows a “Queens culture walk” to be integrated into the side of the venue’s facade.

Cohen and Hard Rock want to make the area around Citi Field a year-round sports and entertainment district.

Benches, pavings and plantings will look similar to what is seen in other New York City landmark parks, like Central Park in Manhattan and Prospect Park in Brooklyn. Central Park has the Great Lawn. This park will have a one-acre lawn—roughly the size of Midtown Manhattan’s Bryant Park—right where The Beatles performed at second base at Shea Stadium.

Because Cohen is partnering with Hard Rock, baseball and music will be celebrated in many ways. “The paving design has the potential to incorporate elements inspired by Mets heritage, baseball uniform pinstripes and sheet music,” according to the proposal.

There will be lots of blue and orange, which, conveniently, happen to be the colors of not only the Mets, but the state of New York and the 1939 New York World’s Fair held at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.

Some more details:

• Some signage and typography will mimic the neon signs that were on the outside of Shea Stadium.
• Roosevelt Avenue will have bike lanes, wider sidewalks, planters and open spaces.
• Solar panels will be installed on the resort towers.
• A 14,200-square-foot daycare and child care center will be built for employees.

The project includes community athletic fields, bike paths, pedestrian walkways and a train station renovation. The aim is to connect Flushing Meadows Corona Park to Flushing Bay and a new Willets Point development, as well as the surrounding neighborhoods of Corona, East Elmhurst and Flushing.

Cohen’s team gathered local input over four years, including 16 community workshops attended by about 1,800 residents. The Community Advisory Committee passed the plan on a 6-0 vote last month.

The project needs one last approval, from the state Gaming Commission for a gambling license. Three projects are seeking licenses and the commission can grant all three, but it also can vote to reject any or all of the proposals. The other two projects are Bally’s Bronx and Resorts World in Queens, which are already electronic gaming sites seeking a full casino license. The commission will vote in December.

Construction could begin on Metropolitan Park as soon as January and is estimated to take four years.

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