The news of the Islanders' full-time return to Long Island comes as construction on the new Belmont Park Arena continues at a brisk pace. To date, more than 330,000 cubic yards of soil have been excavated from the site, the entire 15,000 cubic yard concrete foundation has been poured, and approximately 20% of the project's structural steel beams have been installed. In addition, PSEG Long Island has made steady progress on upgrading Belmont Park's electrical infrastructure to support the new development and the Long Island Rail Road has commenced design work on the new Elmont Station, which will be primarily funded by the arena developer through a public-private partnership and is the first new, full-time LIRR commuter station built in decades.
Empire State Development Acting Commissioner and President & CEO-Designate Eric Gertler said, "The Islanders have been an integral part of Long Island since 1972, and I am thrilled to see this franchise return home - both as the head of New York's economic development agency and as a lifelong hockey fan. Thanks to Governor Cuomo's vision and leadership, the Islanders are building a state-of-the-art, permanent home on Long Island, while generating thousands of jobs and billions in economic development, and today's announcement further supports those efforts."
The privately funded $1.3 billion Belmont Redevelopment Project will construct a 250-room hotel and 350,000 square foot retail village in addition to a 19,000-seat arena for the Islanders and other events. The project is expected to create 10,000 construction jobs and support 3,200 full-time jobs upon completion. In addition, the construction activities are projected to generate an economic impact of $2.7 billion, while the operations of the new arena, hotel, and retail village are expected to generate annual economic impacts of $858 million.
Islanders fans can reserve tickets for potential 2019-2020 home playoff games and purchase tickets for 2020-21 home games at the Coliseum
here
.