Steve Sohen announced career development program for former Mets Pitcher’s.....

A Queens state senator whose support is critical to Mets owner Steve Cohen’s plan to build an $8 billion casino and entertainment complex next to Citi Field said she won’t introduce legislation needed to move the project forward.

The decision by Senator Jessica Ramos, a progressive Democrat, deals a potentially fatal blow to Cohen’s chances of winning one of three available state licenses to build a casino in the New York City area. The legislation is needed to allow a parking lot that sits on state-owned parkland to be used for commercial purposes.

site of another casino bid which also requires a parkland bill. She has been floated as a possible workaround for Cohen’s team, were she to introduce a bill that frees up parkland in the Bronx and the site next to Citi Field at once.

But Fernandez nixed that idea today.

“Given her respect to her colleagues in the Legislature, if the senator so chooses to introduce any parkland alienation bill, that bill will not include any area outside of her district,” Justin Sanchez, Fernandez’s chief of staff, told Playbook. “Today’s news does not change that.”

Since New York state announced it would award three casino licenses in the New York City area, Cohen has seized every opportunity he could to win one, hiring an army of lobbyists, sending hundreds of mailers and winning over a posse of local politicians. He has spent lavishly in the process.

But standing in his way from the start has been the progressive senator, who is occasionally floated as a primary challenger to Mayor Eric Adams in 2025. After months of hinting, Ramos finally came out publicly against the project today.

“I think it’s a sad state of affairs when casinos are the premiere economic development idea in our state,” she told reporters today from the Capitol’s second floor. “The business model for casinos, by definition, is to extract wealth from people. … This is not something that would be beneficial.”

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HOCHUL PUSHES FOR SOCIAL MEDIA BILL: Cooperate with the state in drafting legislation to protect children under the age of 18, or deal with it — that’s the message Gov. Kathy Hochul is sending to social media magnates.

The push to curtail the use of social media by minors — one of the most high-profile fights left this session in Albany — is pitting tech firms against the Democratic governor. And with few legislative disputes left to settle, Hochul is putting a lot of firepower into this one.

“We are not anti-business, we are anti-harm to our children,” Hochul told reporters Tuesday. “They should see that and work with us on this legislation instead of saying no. So I think we’re making some progress; some of the responsible companies are already taking steps on their own and I commend them.”

The measure is aimed at protecting the mental health of children who view content that the proponents — including the state teachers’ union — argue could be addictive and otherwise troubling for them. It has faced backlash from well-heeled social media giants across the country, including Meta.

But Hochul remains optimistic.

She said part of the legislation being drafted would include a more stringent process for proving that users are older than 18, though she did not clarify what those controls would look like.

“Companies already have to do this for online gaming and tobacco sales,” she said. “You already have to do this, for them to say you can’t do that, I’m not buying it.”

Julie Samuels, president & CEO of Tech:NYC, said the organization is in “productive discussions with lawmakers and community groups about these bills.”

“But this is an extremely complicated task, and we have to be careful to avoid the fate of every other state that has passed similar bills: yearslong delays in getting support to kids, as rushed legislation remains tied up in courts,” Samuels added.