A second lawsuit has been filed in an attempt to halt the development of Belmont Park, which would be the site of the New York Islanders new 19,000 seat arena. This time, a coalition of civic groups from the Elmont area have filed the suit. It challenges the project's environmental review process as well as the legality of the redevelopment's origin under urban renewal statutes, much like the suit filed before it by the Village of Floral Park.
The Elmont suit also claims the state's environmental review of the project was flawed and did not properly address major issues like traffic, “cumulative impacts” and the safety of local residents. The action seeks to stop work at the Belmont Park site and asks that the publicly owned park property not be conveyed to private developers. Plaintiffs in the new lawsuit claim they represent about 3,000 households in the Elmont area and include the leaders of the Belmont Park Community Coalition, Elmont Manor Tudor Civic Association, Elmont Parkhurst Civic Association, Elmont Locustwood/Gotham Civic Association and Elmont civic leader Aubrey Phillips. The defendants in the suit include Empire State Development, the Hempstead Town supervisor, the Nassau County executive, developers New York Arena Partners, the state Franchise Oversight Board and the Water Authority of Western Nassau.
In a written statement, Lori Halop, of the Belmont Park Community Coalition, says "The State of New York plans to take up a major redevelopment project for our community. Unfortunately, the state has chosen to ignore the surrounding communities and our concerns about the current redevelopment proposal.”
Site work began on the Belmont property earlier this month. The arena is supposed to be ready by Oct. 2021, so its anchor tenant, the New York Islanders, can start its 2021-22 season there. The lawsuit contends that pressure from the National Hockey League to meet that timeline caused the state to rush through the project's required environmental studies and review.
If either suit is successful, it would halt construction of the $1.3 billion project and start the lengthy approval process all over again.
Meanwhile, the Islanders held their official groundbreaking ceremony at the site Monday.
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Source: libn.com
