Comrie replaces Gianaris on PACB
State senator sees new role as chance to change Belmont Park development plans
BY BILL PARRY
Is the $1.18 billion Belmont
Park redevelopment plan in
trouble now that state Sen.
Leroy Comrie has replaced his
colleague Michael Gianaris
as the nominee to the Public
Authorities Control Board?
Not necessarily, said Comrie,
whose district encompasses a
section of the park.
“I’m not critical of the
plan but I am hopeful there
are some issues that can be
resolved,” Comrie said. “I am
honored that the leader has
recommended me and I hope I
can represent our conference
well, if the Governor accepts
the recommendation.”
Senate Majority Leader
Andrea Stewart-Cousins
withdrew Gianaris’ name
from nomination to the
three-member panel — which
could have given the Amazon
opponent partial veto power
over the deal — just over a
week after e-commerce giant
walked away from its plan to
build an HQ2 campus in Long
Island City, and its promise
to create 25,000 jobs over the
next 10 years.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo
fumed that the Amazon
rejection was the “greatest
tragedy” he saw during his
time in government during an
interview Friday in which he
blamed Gianaris by name for
leading the opposition to the
project. A day later, Comrie’s
name was put forward by
Stewart-Cousins in a letter
to Cuomo.
“Through comments you
have made to others in public
meetings and interviews it
has become clear that you
do not intend to confirm this
appointment to the PACB,”
Stewart-Cousins wrote. “To
ensure the Senate Majority is
properly represented, I hereby
formally recommend Senator
State Sen. Leroy Comrie said he has “considerable concerns about traffic and transportation issues” related to the Belmont Park
redevelopment project that would include a 19,000-seat hockey arena for the New York Islanders. Courtesy of New York Partners, LLC
Leroy Comrie as the Senate
representative on the Public
Authorities Control Board.”
Cuomo spokesman Rich
Azzopardi responded in a
tweet saying, “Great, but it’s a
day late and $27 billion short,”
implying the deal, and the
projected $27 billion in city
and state tax revenues over 25
years, could have been saved if
she had withdrawn Gianaris’s
name earlier.
In a telephone interview
Tuesday from Albany,
Comrie seemed surprised
at speculation that he was
opposed to the Belmont Park
redevelopment project that
would include a 19,000-seat
hockey arena for the New
York Islanders, a 250-room
hotel and a 435,000 square foot
retail complex adjacent to the
racetrack’s grandstand.
“I applaud the concept of
the project,” Comrie said.
“I do have considerable
concerns about traffic and
transportation issues but I’m
very positive things can be
worked out.”
Comrie has insisted
publicly that any final project
must include a full-service
Long Island Rail Road station
instead of limited service at
the current facility, with the
cost of the new station passed
on to the developer. He has
also called for a year-round
Park and Ride for commuters
at the 6,000 space parking
lot, as well as a significant
expansion of the Cross
Island Expressway.
“I am well aware that
Elmont has not had any
development programs for
years and they are very
supportive of this project,
but I am also aware that on
the western edge of Belmont
Park, in my neighborhoods of
Cambria Heights and Queens
Village traffic congestion and
a full service LIRR station are
very serious issues.”
Reach reporter Bill
Parry by e-mail at bparry@
schnepsmedia.com or by phone
at (718) 260–4538.
State Sen. Leroy Comrie has
replaced state Sen. Michael
Gianaris as the nominee to
the Public Authorities Control
Board. File Photo
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