Civic leaders question Belmont contract
A rendering of the new Belmont Park. State-owned land at the racecourse will be developed into an 18,000-seat hockey arena by the New York Islanders. Credit: Sterling Project Development
Some Elmont and Floral Park civic leaders are raising concerns that a development group led by the New York Islanders is paying a Manhattan-based consulting firm to conduct an environmental review before the team constructs an 18,000-seat arena at Belmont Park.
The Belmont Park Community Coalition, in a letter to Howard Zemsky, president of Empire State Development, the state’s business development agency, questioned the use of AKRF for the environmental review.
AKRF, which has offices in Holbrook, conducted similar environmental reviews of the Barclays Center, Citi Field and Yankee Stadium projects.
The letter calls it a “conflict of interest” to allow New York Arena Partners — the Islanders’ joint venture in the Belmont development — to fund an environmental review when they would benefit from a positive result.
“We believe such an arrangement precludes a truly independent assessment of the environmental impacts of the project,” the civic leaders wrote.
The coalition includes Aubrey Phillips, vice president of the Parkhurst Civic Association, and Tammie Williams, a trustee of the Elmont Public Library and a member of the Parkhurst Civic Association.
ESD last month selected New York Arena Partners to redevelop the state-owned land around Belmont. The $1 billion project includes a new hockey arena, 435,000-square-feet of retail, restaurants and a movie theater, a hotel with 200 to 250 rooms and a 10,000-square-foot community building.
The agency last year selected AKRF to conduct an environmental and traffic review of Belmont that would be paid for by the winning bidder. ESD cited the firm’s experience on “large and complex development projects and sports/entertainment facilities.”
The Islanders’ group won the bid for the project last month.
AKRF will receive up to $2 million for its work, which is estimated to last 12 to 16 months.
ESD spokeswoman Amy Varghese said the Belmont project has been part of an extensive community outreach effort, including briefings with elected officials, numerous community listening sessions and a review of 470 written comments.
“ESD has ensured robust community engagement every step of the way and is committed to continuing to do so,” Varghese said.
The Belmont development team includes the Islanders, Oak View Group, an arena development group partially funded by Madison Square Garden, and Sterling Project Development, a real estate firm run by the New York Mets’ Wilpon family.
The group will sign a 49-year lease with the state to develop at Belmont and pay a total of $40 million in rent.
“We believe this planned lease arrangement is tantamount to a giveaway of lucrative and valuable real estate at the expense of the state’s taxpayers and that it will deprive the surrounding communities of Elmont and Floral Park of vital revenue that could be used in and for the community,” the letter states.
Representatives for AKRF and New York Arena Partners did not respond to requests for comment.
Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.
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