Shush! The group that runs the U.S. Open would like to keep the area quiet — at least during matches.
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Tennis is posh. Casinos are crass. So it seemed inevitable that the group that runs the U.S. Open would clash over something when it came to Steve Cohen’s plan for a casino just across from Flushing Meadows. Now, just days before the board tasked with making final decisions on the three available licenses will tour the site, the U.S. Tennis Association is suing the city. USTA wants a judge to block the city from making any kind of agreement with Cohen’s Metropolitan Park casino — at least, not until a judge makes sure its own contract with the city isn’t being stomped on. “The threat of serious damage to the US Open and the National Tennis Center is now both real and potentially disastrous,” per the suit.
Citi Field, just across the park from the tennis center, could soon get livelier.
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The problem, according to the USTA, is its 99-year lease with the city gives it some control over the area during its annual tournament — a so-called superiority clause (really) that bars competing events (other than Mets games) and gives it access to some parking spots and control over marketing and concessions in the park. If it’s difficult to imagine 23 days without events at the proposed casino, that’s because the project is backed by Hard Rock Entertainment, a brand that revolves around, well, rock. The proposed casino is being pitched as bringing the area “365 Days of Entertainment” with a new music venue that may be too close for comfort.
Also in the suit: USTA claims it asked the city for the right to look over the potential lease to make sure its rights are upheld, but the city refused — telling the tennis association to wait for the next administration, which, of course, takes office after this will all shake out. That felt disingenuous to USTA, per the lawsuit, which says it “confirms that that the City has threatened to — and intends to — default on its obligation.” (Glass houses, perhaps?) USTA has been burned — or almost — before, it claims in the suit: “In February 2025, in violation of the NTC’s Lease rights, QBC announced that musician Billy Joel would perform at Citi Field on August 21, 2025, during the US Open.” (Fate stepped in, thankfully. Per the suit, “Mr. Joel took ill.”)
The group isn’t opposed to a casino in general, according to what a spokesman told Crain’s. But the suit will still make life more difficult for the project and is careful to block off any easy way out — stipulating that monetary damages would be an “inadequate remedy.” Instead, they’re asking that a judge review the lease — adding paperwork and a delay at a key moment. Cunning — very tennis.