Survey finds 57% oppose Aqueduct center

The majority of New Yorkers oppose Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's plan for a convention center at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, according to a poll released Monday.

Fifty-seven percent of registered voters polled by the Siena Research Institute said they were against the proposal while 38 percent said they supported it and 5 percent said they had no opinion. The poll did not ask for specific reasons why.

Meanwhile, Cuomo's popularity continues to soar with his job performance hitting a new high of 62 percent and his favorability rating inching up to 73 percent, the highest it has been since February. The majority of voters support him on creating a teacher evaluation system -- 82 percent vs. 16 percent -- and passing a constitutional amendment to legalize casino gambling -- 53 percent vs. 42 percent, the poll showed.

That support stands in contrast to one of Cuomo's top agenda items, a plan to allow the Malaysian-based Genting Group to build the nation's largest convention center at Aqueduct, where it runs a racino.

"There is strong opposition to the governor's proposal for a new convention center adjacent to the Aqueduct racetrack and racino," Siena pollster Steven Greenberg said in a news release. Greenberg said that New York City voters are barely supportive of the plan while suburbanites are opposed and upstaters are strongly opposed.

"Clearly, the governor has his work cut out for him to convince voters on that proposal," he said.

Speaking to reporters Monday, Cuomo said voters would support the project when they understood that it would create jobs and that it relied on private investment.

"This is not the state building a convention center at all," Cuomo said. "This is a highly successful private-sector company that does this all around the globe, exquisitely well, building a center with their money that is going to create jobs for New Yorkers and revenue for New Yorkers."

In return for building the convention center, Genting wants to expand its gambling operations, Cuomo said.

"They will build a much larger center, including a convention center, if we allow them to have more gaming machines in the new space," Cuomo said.

Though the state would not directly invest in the $4-billion, 3.8-million-square-foot convention center, it is not clear what costs the state could incur through tax breaks or infrastructure investment, or whether the state's $700- million investment at the Jacob Javits Center in 2005 would be wasted if it gets torn down.

The Siena poll surveyed 805 registered New York voters from Jan. 8 to Jan. 12 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent.