The plan from Mets owner Steve Cohen to build a casino on the parking lot next to Citi Field cleared another hurdle Tuesday as the State Senate approved so-called parkland alienation, which allows for development on the site if it is selected for a gaming license. 

The Queens project, dubbed Metropolitan Park, would turn the parking lot next to the stadium — which is technically state parkland — into a 50-acre entertainment complex that also includes 25 acres for a park, hotel, community space, food hall and more. 

In April, Cohen’s group announced a plan to build 450 units of affordable housing nearby on another existing parking lot in Corona. 

The team has also promised repairs to the nearby subway station, better bike paths, a food hall, and other investments into nearby neighborhoods — but only if they get a casino license, which should be decided by the end of the year. The venue would be operated by Hard Rock. 

The Senate ed the alienation motion 54-5 late Tuesday afternoon — despite the area’s representative, State Sen. Jessica Ramos, opposing it.

A similar alienation bill ed earlier this month overwhelmingly in the Assembly,138 to 7.

The bill was sponsored by Asm. Larindra Hooks who represents parts of East Elmhurst and Corona, and who has been ive of the casino.

The five-member board of the Gaming Commission will ultimately decide where to locate up to three downstate casinos through licensing, which is expected at the end of the year. 

The senate’s parkland alienation bill was introduced by Sen. John Liu, who represents neighboring Flushing and was promised a “Skypark” — a bridge over Flushing Creek — by the Mets owners as part of his introduction of the bill. 

On the floor of the senate, Ramos — who is running for mayor — testified that many of her district, which includes Corona, East Elmhurst, and Jackson Heights, were opposed to the casino plan. She said the proposal “has deeply divided my community.”

“We want investment, we want good jobs, we want green space, housing, and real opportunities for our children,” she said.

“But after decades of public neglect it feels like the first serious proposal on the table is a casino,” she added. “That is not the kind of development my community deserves.”

Ramos said while the neighbors who were in favor of the casino plan had good intentions for broader development, she was skeptical of Cohen, whose financial firm paid the largest insider trading fine in United States history. 

“Who stands to win and who’s being asked to take the risk? This is not about a building or about a parcel of parkland, it’s about power,” she said.

“It’s about whether communities like mine are treated like partners or pawns.”

Manhattan State Sen. Liz Krueger also voted against the parkland alienation move, saying “I don’t like gambling. I particularly don’t like government co-sponsored gambling.”

Liu, who told THE CITY in April that the casinos were happening no matter what and he wanted to improve his community. 

“There’s going to be three casinos nearby anyway and there are lots of people in favor,” he said at the time, adding that Cohen’s team was “vigorous” in their push for his sign-on — even though his district is merely adjacent to the one where the casino would be located.

“The in my community — notwithstanding my warnings — far outweighs and outnumbers the few who are opposed.” 

He did not speak at Tuesday’s hearing. 

Prospective casino operators have spent millions of dollars lobbying lawmakers, including Mayor Eric Adams, throughout the competition for three new downstate casino licenses. 

Six of the top 10 spenders lobbying city officials were all bidding for casinos last year, according to data from the City Clerk’s office. 

In recent weeks, some of the bidders have pulled out, including Wynn Resorts that had a plan at Hudson Yards and Sands Corp. that aimed to build at the former Nassau Coliseum. 

The Hudson Yards casino developers blamed local opposition to the project, and said they would build housing instead. On Wednesday, the New York State Gaming Commission is holding a virtual public scoping session as it continues its environmental review of a proposed Caesars Palace Times Square Casino, which is in Krueger’s district.