04/16/2026
Hon. Nicholas W. Moyne recused himself from overseeing a lawsuit filed by Queens residents against the New York State Gaming Commission on March 20, citing a “social relationship with a member of respondent” as his reason for recusal on court documentation filed on April 2.
The lawsuit stems from criticisms over the gaming commission’s unanimous decision on Dec. 15 to issue a commercial casino license to the Metropolitan Park casino team, led by Hard Rock International and billionaire Steve Cohen, owner of the New York Mets.
The casino is slated to be built next to Citi Field in Flushing, and preparations for its construction are currently underway.
Petitioners allege that the gaming commission failed in its duty to ensure the integrity of the casino sponsors — Cohen and Hard Rock — as required by law.
They cited Cohen’s hedge fund, SAC Capital Advisors, which pleaded guilty in the nation’s largest insider-trading scandal and agreed to pay a record $1.8 billion fine.
While the Metropolitan Park casino team noted that Cohen himself was not charged with any wrongdoing, the billionaire was barred from managing clients’ money for two years in a separate civil action.
ProPublica also released a report in December 2024 that Cohen used his new hedge fund, Point72, to utilize a tax loophole that helped the billionaire avoid approximately $11 million in Medicare taxes in 2014 and 2015.
At the time, ProPublica reported that Cohen and two other billionaires referenced in the story said they “followed the law as written.”
As for Hard Rock, the petitioners noted that last August, the company fired its senior vice president for Hotel and Casino Operations, Alex Pariente, following an internal investigation of charges that included money-laundering practices.
Petitioners’ second point of contention argued that the gaming commission did not conduct fair public hearings and systematically silenced voices that opposed the casino project. Petitioners submitted evidence citing the two public hearings — one on Sept. 9 that lasted from 4-7 p.m. and one on Sept. 16 that was shortened from three hours to two hours and took place from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. — as the two shortest scheduled sessions of any of the other casino teams conducting hearings for their proposals at the time, most of which were scheduled for at least four hours long.
In addition, they claimed the notice sent out by the gaming commission ahead of the Sept. 16 hearing was misleading because it instructed members of the public not to arrive before 9:30 a.m.
Attendees said members of the public were let in much earlier than 9:30 a.m., with one petitioner claiming there was already a line of about 50 people when he arrived at 9:10 a.m.
According to documentation filed in the court case, 54 speakers had testified that day — 43 of which were in support of the casino. Only four of the first 35 speakers were against the casino.
The lawsuit stems from criticisms over the gaming commission’s unanimous decision on Dec. 15 to issue a commercial casino license to the Metropolitan Park
