The Belmont project will bring the New York Islanders back to Long Island, after an ill-fated attempt to move the team to Brooklyn. The new 19,000-seat arena will be located at Belmont Park, home to horse racing, and developers are hoping that helps draw bigger crowds.
"This is one of the largest and most impactful developments that we've done in the entire downstate region in a long, long time," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at the groundbreaking.
But the project got off to a rocky start. When it was first proposed in 2017, the prediction was that hockey could be played here as soon as 2019. Now, the latest projection is for the 2021 season. The original cost was estimated to come in at $1 billion, but the new price tag adds another $300,000, or 30 percent, to that.
One outstanding issue is whether energy provider National Grid will be able to offer enough gas service to meet the arena's energy needs. In a statement, a spokesperson for National Grid said, "The infrastructure serving the region has reached full capacity and is unable to meet growing demand."
"They have a backup plan. Obviously, the natural gas issue is not resolved yet, in terms of which way it's going to go," said Democratic State Sen. Todd Kaminsky of Long Island. "But I think we are all pretty confident that two seasons from now, this arena will have the puck dropped for the Islanders' home opener."
The backup plan includes trucking in propone to the site and storing it in tanks. Energy needs have gone unmet since the Cuomo Administration blocked the controversial Williams Pipeline due to environmental concerns.
Cuomo claims the benefits of the project will be met regardless.
"It will revitalize the entire economy of, I think, the region, certainly of the locality. 350,000 square feet of development, a hotel, retail, 10,000 construction jobs," the governor said. "It's going to maximize the potential of this site."
The Trump Administration has overruled the state's ability to block the Williams Pipeline on environmental grounds. But it's not clear that the project will go forward as originally planned. In the meantime, National Grid is denying energy service to new customers in Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island, claiming it does not have enough supply.