According the below linked Newsday piece?
The group, Elmont Against the Megamall, has financial connections to California and Virginia and distant connections to Republicans …..
Something VERY Interesting is going on here….
Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo took a hit on Amazon leaving Long Island City, in Queens , NYC….
This group (That no one knows about) all of the sudden start’s spending over a half millions dollars against the Belmont Islanders project?…., huh?
In September 2018, Elmont Against the Megamall paid $346,000 to The Crux Group, the West Hollywood company. In October 2018, the community group paid another $34,000 to Crux, and in December 2018 it paid the firm an additional $102,000, state filings show.
“We believe this project is too big for the community, period. It will overrun the community with traffic from outside Elmont, turning a bad traffic situation into a living nightmare,” said Howard Kushlan, co-founder and CEO of The Crux Group.
Kushlan would say only that he expresses the views of members of Elmont Against the Megamall.
The Belmont project is undergoing a lengthy environmental review process scheduled to be completed in June. Developers want to build a 19,000-seat arena, a 250-room hotel and 435,000 square feet of retail.
Jack Sterne, spokesman for Empire State Development, the state agency overseeing the Belmont project, questioned the legitimacy of Elmont Against the Megamall.
“It’s clear that this faceless ‘opposition group’ isn’t listening to the community, and exists solely to promote its own interests and peddle propaganda,” Sterne said. “Fortunately, the Elmont community is far too smart and engaged to be tricked by anonymous big-money interests,”
Local residents and some state lawmakers questioned how the group, which describes itself as a grassroots community organization, was able to raise so much money.
“Whoever is behind this is hiding behind the group name, and there’s nobody I can speak to about what their beliefs are,” said Jon Johnson, who sits on the 15-person Community Advisory Committee formed by ESD. The panel meets regularly to discuss issues related to the Belmont development…..