JAMAICA — Plans to build what would have been the nation's largest casino and convention center next to Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens have fallen apart, Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a radio interview Friday.
The proposal, which had been developed with the Genting Organization, was originally revealed as a pivotal part of his January State of the State speech.
On Friday, he announced on WOR radio, that "The conversations hadn't really worked out," with the Malaysian gambling company, which was slated to build the casino complex.
It was reported that the Genting proposal was supposed to have created 10,000 temporary construction jobs, and 10,000 permanent jobs on the site near Kennedy Airport.
However, despite Cuomo's claim that it would become the "No. 1 convention site in the nation," public opinion polls showed flagging interest in the $4 billion, 3.8-million square foot venue.
One of the more controversial elements of Cuomo's plan involved razing the Javits Center in Manhattan.
According to the Associated Press, Genting spent more than $774,000 on lobbying in the state in the first 10 months of 2011.
