Page 23 - 2021 Queens Economic Development Guide

We are proud to call Queens our home, especially because it is recognized as the most diverse county in the country. Being here offers us multiple benefits, including a pivotal location, as well as the greatest fans in the world. We are also proud to be a member of the Queens Chamber of Commerce – an organization that is focused on building success and creating opportunity for its members.
by an abbreviated season necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mets continued to invest in their community. In February, following Steve Cohen’s purchase of the franchise, the team announced the launch of the Amazin’ Mets Foundation, the new philanthropic arm of the New York Mets.
The Amazin’ Mets Foundation is now committed to using the team’s platform to inspire change and make a lasting impact both on and off the field.
The Foundation will provide needed services and opportunities to children, families, and under-served groups in neighborhoods and communities near the Mets home ballpark.
Queensboro FC
Queensboro FC (QBFC) will be the newest professional sports team to call Queens home when the squad takes the field in the 2022 season of the USL Championship, the top tier of the United Soccer League (USL). The club fielded a USL Academy team in the 2021 season to establish a proper youth development foundation to support the professional team ahead of its debut in 2022. Since soccer
is the most popular sport among Queens residents – Queensboro
FC aims to embrace and unite “the world’s borough” in all of its diversity.
USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center
Professional baseball and soccer players are not the only pro athletes who compete in Queens. The US Open tennis tournament, the only major based in the United States on the professional tennis tour, is hosted
by the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center each September. More than 700,000 attend the tournament each year, with millions more watching it on television. Players such as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams are usually the top draws
at the tournament. During the rest of the year, the center hosts numerous smaller tennis tournaments, as well as court rentals to the general public.
Resorts World Casino
Jamaica’s Resorts World Casino is a world-class gaming venue that offers more than 6,000 slots and electronic table games on three different levels: the Times Square Casino, the Fifth Avenue Casino and the Central Park Casino. The casino generated more than $360 million in revenue for New York’s Lottery education fund in fiscal year 2016-17 – which was more than any other gaming facility in the entire state. Since its opening in 2011, the casino has generated more than $1.8
—The New York Mets
billion for the education fund.
After a six-month closure due to the
pandemic, Resorts World reopened in September 2020, returning many furloughed workers to their jobs. In 2021, the facility also debuted Hyatt Regency JFK at Resorts World New York, an eight-story, 400-room, four- star hotel.
Learn more on page 46.
Aqueduct Racetrack
Aqueduct Racetrack, also known as the Big A, is the only racetrack in New York City, occupying 210 acres in South Ozone Park. Since 2013, the New York Racing Association has invested more than $18 million in capital improvements at Aqueduct, showcasing a continued focus on enhancing the guest experience and improving the quality of racing.
One of the most transformational additions was the opening of Longshots, a state-of-the-art simulcasting center and sports bar.
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© Dominick Totino Photography