Belmont Park needs full-time LIRR schedule: Vallone
BY JENNA BACAL
As work on the Belmont
Park Redevelopment Project
is slated for later this year, a
northeast Queens lawmaker is
calling on the state to consider
full-time public transportation
at the nearby Long Island Rail
Road train station.
Councilman Paul Vallone
submitted official testimony
to Empire State Development
and New York Arena Partners
on Feb. 22 outlining potential
congestion concerns and
remedies that would directly
impact his constituents. In his
testimony, Vallone urged the
stakeholders to establish “a
firm traffic-mitigation plan” to
ensure that Queens residents
could maintain a stable quality
of life.
“I represent Auburndale,
Bay Terrace, Bayside,
Beechhurst, College Point,
Douglaston, Flushing, Little
Neck, Malba and Whitestone,
neighborhoods just a few miles
away from Belmont Park,”
Vallone’s testimony reads. “As
a lifelong New York Islanders
fan, I am personally thrilled
that the team will be returning
to their original home of Nassau
County … However, without
the proper forethought, this
project could negatively affect
quality of life for the thousands
of my constituents who depend
on the active road and railways
surrounding Belmont Park to
commute every day.”
The Belmont Park
Redevelopment Civic and Land
Use Improvement Project,
as it is officially known, is a
$1.18 billion transformation of
surplus land into a new home
for the New York Islanders
hockey team. Once complete,
the site will include a 19,000-
seat hockey stadium, a hotel and
several commercial facilities
adjacent to the existing Belmont
Track. At peak attendance, the
racetrack and surrounding
area will accommodate
60,000 to 100,000 people
according to information from
Vallone’s office.
“The implementation of fulltime,
east-to-west service with
a Park and Ride option would
provide the proper relief to the
inevitable influx of traffic on the
already overloaded Cross Island
The redevelopment site at Belmont Park. Courtesy of Cuomo’s office
Parkway, a major artery that
runs along Belmont Park and
throughout northeast Queens,”
Vallone’s testimony continues.
“The many constituents in
my district who traverse this
roadway on a daily basis can
attest to regular congestion.
Implementing full-time train
service at the Belmont station
would properly mitigate the
influx of thousands more
individuals who will seek to get
to and from this hub on a daily
basis. Ensuring the station is
at full operation by the time
this development project is
completed is essential.”
A report erroneously said
that developers were halting
the project to accommodate for
an “extended environmental
review” but ESD confirmed
that they expected that work
on the project is on track to
begin in the second half of
2019. They added that they
have been working on full-time
transportation to Belmont as
well as traffic mitigation efforts
to the area.
“The Belmont Project
will generate millions in tax
revenue for Nassau County
and Elmont Schools every
year, upgrade Elmont Road
Park, create thousands of
jobs, and bring The Islanders
back to Long Island. In
February, we reiterated the
same timeline we’ve had since
the beginning of this project,
and we still anticipate final
public approval in the second
quarter of 2019,” said ESD
spokesperson Jack Sterne.
Back in December, City
Comptroller Scott Stringer
and Councilman Barry
Grodenchik expressed similar
sentiments about the increased
traffic for neighboring
Queens residents.
The lawmakers addressed
a letter to Department
of Transportation
Commissioner Polly
Trottenberg urging the
agency to conduct a traffic
study of potential impacts.
Stringer and Grodenchik
suggested solutions including
a residential parking program
that would restrict curbside
parking to residents during
certain times of day.
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