Hevesi Raises Questions On Convention Center

At Wednesday night’s meeting, Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi, D-Forest Hills, brought up some tough questions with regard

The proposal, which was introduced in would site a 3.2 million sq. ft. convention center in South Ozone Park, adjacent to the Aqueduct racino.

While Hevesi said he wasn’t against the proposal, he was troubled by how quickly the project has moved from the idea stage to more aggressive planning.

“I want to be very candid with you, I have some very serious concerns about the way [Cuomo has] done this,” Hevesi said. “He did a sole-source contract without any kind of competitive bidding. Why is Genting, the company that runs the casino, the only people who can run the convention center?”

Hevesi said that the governor’s intention with the no-bid process was to cut through Albany’s notorious red tape to get a convention center built quickly. But that led to another concern, he added.

“There’s also been an argument that’s been made that convention centers have not been making the money that had been for the last couple years,” he said. “There’s just been a drop off. So it’s aggressive, and I like the governor for being bold, but is that the way to go? I’m not sure.”

An informal poll of more than

The Assemblyman qualified his remarks, ultimately, saying that he wasn’t trying to throw cold water on the idea altogether.

“If you’re going to build something of that magnitude, I’m happy it’s coming to Queens,” he said.