Plans for $4 billion Queens convention center scrapped

Plans by Malaysian entertainment giant Genting Group to build a $4 billion convention center in Queens that would have created tens of thousands of jobs have been scrapped in favor of a competitive bids process, Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently disclosed.

The proposal for a 3.8-million-square-foot complex was the centerpiece of Cuomo”™s economic development agenda, presented in January, and would have been entirely financed by Genting.

Cuomo and Genting projected the construction alone would have created more than 10,000 jobs, with another 10,000 permanent jobs resulting from the convention center”™s operation and presence in the region.

Negotiations between New York state officials and Genting “haven”™t really worked out,” Cuomo said in a radio interview with former Gov. David Paterson on WOR-AM.

Cuomo said the state would most likely wait until an amendment to legalize full casino gambling in New York is ratified before making any decision about a future convention center.

Pending that ratification, Cuomo said he now favors a competitive process through which any developer could bid for the right to construct and operate a joint casino-convention center complex.

Cuomo did not specify whether such a complex would be located on the Aqueduct property in Queens, where Genting currently has a 30-year lease to operate Resorts World Casino New York City, one of the state”™s nine racetrack casinos.

Genting said in a statement it “welcomes the governor”™s approach.”

“We continue to want to invest in New York and plan to do so for years to come,” said spokesman Stefan Friedman.