Details disclosed in the Empire State Development draft document for the proposed Belmont Park development are a “direct contradiction” to information previously given to the public, Floral Park Mayor Dominick Longobardi said in a message to residents last Wednesday.
Longobardi raised three main issues with the plans for the new New York Islanders arena project revealed by the 32-page public notice about the scope of an environmental impact statement released last Tuesday.
The plan now uses the north parking lot, which borders the Floral Park Bellerose School and residents in the West End, despite prior written representations that excluded the lot from the proposal, Longobardi said.
Longobardi said he is also concerned by the addition of a 40,000-square-foot electric substation that would be situated next to the Floral Park Bellerose School.
He also raised concern over the proposed 265-foot-high hotel, which would be one of the tallest buildings in the county.
The Empire State Development Corp. released the plans when it announced that two public meetings will be held on March 22.
The two-hour meetings will be held at the Elmont Memorial Library at 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
Efforts to reach the Empire State Development Corp. were unavailing.
Longobardi said that while the village had “significant reservations about the proposal” and the process that resulted in the proposal, he said the village was working in good faith with all parties to ensure the legitimate village concerns would be addressed and evaluated under the environmental review process.
“However, it appears that our good faith has gone unrecognized. This only heightens our concerns about the manner in which this process is being conducted,” Longobardi said. “The new proposal clearly shows a direct impact to Floral Park and previous representations and written communication can be described as misleading, to put it mildly.”
State Sen. Elaine Phillips said in a statement that she is surprised and disappointed with the plans unveiled in the draft document.
“Communities surrounding Belmont were led to believe that development would fall into very specific parameters,” Phillips said. “It now appears those parameters have not only changed, but have very significant additions that must be discussed with everyone who is impacted by this design.”
Phillips said these changes have “direct consequences,” and it is “our job to make our collective voices heard as a community at the public hearing on March 22.”
The initial plans were presented to the public in early December when two bidders explained their responses to the request for proposals.
In December, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that New York Arena Partners, a joint venture between Sterling Development and Oak View Group was the winning bidder with a plan to create an 18,000-seat arena, a multipurpose event center, a retail center and a hotel on 43 acres of state-owned land currently used for parking spaces at Belmont Park.
