Feelings Mixed On Convention Center
By DOMENICK RAFTER
Community Board 10 Chairwoman Betty Braton had always known that the casino at Aqueduct Racetrack was not the end of it. Hotels and convention space have always been on the table. But when Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced in his State of the State speech last Wednesday that he supported a plan to build the world’s largest convention center adjacent to the Resorts World New York City casino on Aqueduct grounds, Braton’s reaction could probably be best described as what you get when you mix concern, confusion and surprise in a blender and add ice.
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| The center will have over three and a half million square feet of convention space. |
“We knew this was coming, we just didn’t know the scale,” Braton said at the Jan. 5 CB 10 meeting, as apprehensive laughter rumbled through the room.
That frozen cocktail of emotions was shared by many in the neighborhoods surrounding Aqueduct Racetrack. Having just endured the opening of the casino that brought gridlock to the streets of what has always been a rather quiet, isolated, even suburban part of the borough, hearing the terms “world’s largest” attached to any proposed development nearby raised quite a few red flags.
The message at the first CB 10 meeting of the year was that the community did not oppose the idea, but felt rather blindsided by the governor’s announcement so soon after the holidays and after the chaos of the casino opening had died down. A community that up until recently had no major facilities to draw thousands of people had questions- and a lot of them.
Where is it going to be built? How big will it be? Is it going to be a “boondoggle?” How are people going to get there?
Genting’s local subsidiary, Resorts World New York, is calling the proposed convention center the New York International Convention and Exhibition Center- or by the pleasant acronym; NICE. The $4 billion project would be entirely financed by RWNY. 3.8 million square feet of convention center space would be built in two phases. The first phase, 2.6 million square feet, will be built on land leased to RWNY and completed by November 2014. The second phase- the final 1.2 million square feet- will be built later, on property now leased to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. A year after the first phase opens RWNY is eyeing the completion of a 1,000 room hotel somewhere on the site. All development will occur on uninhabited land.
At least 10,000 construction jobs and 10,000 permanent jobs could be created by the convention center, RWNY said, almost 10 times the number of jobs created by the casino.
Some expressed concern about the possibility of the massive convention center turning into a “white elephant” because of statistics questioning the profitability of convention centers in recent years. RWNY spokesman Stefan Friedman said the design of the center and its location leads the company to believe it will be successful.
“We are confident people will go to Queens,” he said. “We’re also banking on the fact that New York is New York. We are fully confident we can build a convention center that is well attended, will be popular and will bring a rush of people to New York.”
The convention center will have one huge floor- something that does not exist at the multi-level Jacob Javits Convention Center in Manhattan, but desired by many convention organizers. That satisfies one community concern; whether or not the development will be an eyesore in the neighborhood’s skyline. Its location beneath a busy flight path to JFK airport eliminates any possibility of any tall building, State Sen. Joe Addabbo Jr. (D-Howard Beach) reminded CB 10.
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| Genting’s renderings of what NICE may look like; including the drop off area (top) and a rendering of the exterior (below). |
Transportation issues are a major topic on the minds of locals. Some wondered how the expected tens of thousands of visitors get to the convention center. RWNY said it would work with the State and the MTA to introduce “uninterrupted” subway service between Aqueduct and Midtown Manhattan. Currently, the site is served by the A train and it is at least an hour ride to Midtown, although that line offers quick access from the site to Downtown Brooklyn, Lower Manhattan, and JFK Airport. “Uninterrupted” subway service could come via a new line running together with the A train making fewer stops or by use of the so-called “Queensway,” the abandoned LIRR viaduct that connects to the Rockaway branch of the A train near Aqueduct Racetrack and ends at the LIRR main line in Rego Park.
“Transportation to the site is an issue that needs to be addressed and we have been discussing the feasibility of MTA service from Manhattan to Aqueduct, with Genting paying the cost of such service,” Gov. Cuomo said in a letter to state legislative leaders this week.
At the CB 10 meeting, Braton told the board that it was too early in the process for many of the questions to be answered in full, and her board would need to be included in discussions. She noted that community leaders’ relationship with the company has been good so far; RWNY executives have included the community board in discussions and she does not see a change in that.
“At this point, the relationship that we have with Genting is good,” Braton said. “When [the casino] first came about, that was a leap of faith for us. It’s no longer a leap of faith.”
She noted that there would be many more questions about the project before shovels penetrate the ground and told those at CB 10 to be patient.
“I know that many of you haven’t even thought of your questions yet,” she said. “As you do, let us know.”
Reach Reporter Domenick Rafter at drafter@queenstribune.com or (718) 357-7400 Ext. 125.