Belmont Park is home to the most valuable undeveloped real estate on Long Island.
There are two parcels: Site A, an 8-acre rectangular shaped parcel that abuts the Racetrack; and Site B, a 28-acre triangular shaped parcel just to the south.
This land has been scrutinized for development since the Empire State Development Corporation released the Belmont Park Redevelopment Study in December 2008.
There have been many false starts and nothing yet has been approved. The question remains: What should be built at Belmont Park?
The October 2012 Belmont Park Request for Proposal languished for over four years, and then was abruptly canceled last December, when one of the three bidders, the New York Cosmos, announced financial difficulties.
The Cosmos wanted to build a 25,000 seat $400 million privately funded soccer stadium that had substantial political support, including the support of both Jack Martins and Elaine Phillips, the former and current New York senators representing state Senate District 7.
The southern part of Senate District 7 contains Site A and Site B is adjacent to it. Neither state senator bothered to investigate if the financing was real before supporting the soccer stadium. It wasn’t.
This land, coupled with the major investment the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) is making in the LIRR, is the perfect spot for an extraordinary project that can become a springboard for economic activity and smart growth in the area.
The 36 acres sit at the confluence of a LIRR train station and the Cross Island Parkway, and are roughly 15 minutes from both LaGuardia and Kennedy Airports. Whatever is built needs to be transformative to the region.
Currently, there is talk of constructing a stand-alone stadium for the Islanders to move back to Long Island.
My hope is that whatever gets built there is the best use of the land, and all developers have an opportunity to share their vision and receive input from the surrounding communities.
A world-class project needs to get approved in an expedited fashion, with little resistance, as the approval process has already been almost a decade long.
Four Points to Consider:
Thoroughly vet all bidders. If the Cosmos had won the RFP before it was canceled it would have been a disaster.
A stand-alone soccer stadium used 25 days a year wouldn’t have invigorated the region, and the jobs created would have been mostly low wage.
The soccer stadium would likely never have been completed, because of improper financing.
Google the “Xanadu/American Dream” project at the Meadowlands to see what happens to a poorly financed development.
If a hockey arena were built at Belmont Park it would be the fifth major indoor arena in the New York Metro area, excluding the Coliseum, and would render Nassau Coliseum useless.
Newsday recently reported that both Nassau and Suffolk County legislators want the Islanders to return to the Coliseum. If a hockey arena is really the location’s best choice, community support needs to be greater than 30 Islander fans showing up at a hearing advocating for an arena, like what happened on July 10 at the Belmont Park hearing at the Elmont Public Library.
The Belmont Park project needs to be transformative to the region.
Long Island has zero population growth and there is little on Long Island to attract millennials to live, work and play. Millennials are needed to grow the region.
The Empire State Development Corporation must be open to all proposals and promote that openness nationwide.
Some imaginative proposals could include projects such as: a world class medical research facility, which would be a natural extension of Long Island’s largest employer, healthcare; a corporate campus for a leading technology company (imagine if Apple or Google moved there); an innovate start-up facility where someone like We Work, America’s largest creator of collaborative workspaces, leads the way; or, a destination international food hall, similar to Chelsea Market in Manhattan or La Boqueria Food Market in Barcelona, which would enhance tourism. The possibilities are only limited by a lack of imagination.
The Belmont Park project needs to be self-sustaining.
Please, no Industrial Development Agency tax breaks like what recently happened at Green Acres Mall.
The Elmont/Floral Park and greater Nassau County taxpayers shouldn’t have to subsidize it.
The proper project will attract capital, which will expand the tax base and create high paying jobs.
In the end, time is of the essence, and due diligence is a must.
Remember in 1996, when the Islanders were purchased by John Spano?
Nobody bothered to vet the then 32-year-old, who somehow purchased the hockey franchise without proper funding.
It was months before Spano was found out and his charade was over. All bidders must prove financial wherewithal before a bid is accepted.
This project has been in limbo since 2008. Let’s not wait another decade before a shovel gets in the ground.
