The project is moving along with the steel superstructure already several stories high for the arena …..
A Nassau County Supreme Court judge has almost two months to decide whether to hear oral arguments in a new twist in the Village of Floral Park’s lawsuit against the state because it approved the Belmont Park redevelopment project.
The village is now asking Justice Roy Mahon to ap-prove a preliminary in-junction in the case, which would stop Empire State Development — a state agency that promotes development — and New York Arena Partners — a consortium comprising the Islanders hockey franchise, the Oak View Group and the Wilpon family — from constructing a hotel, community center, commercial office space, retail space and a 19,000-seat arena for the New York Islanders hockey team until Mahon issues a wider ruling on the merits of the village’s case.
Village officials filed the suit in early September, requesting that a justice overturn all state approvals for the project, stop construction and restart the environmental review. Then, in November, an attorney representing the village filed a temporary restraining order request and preliminary injunction to halt construction at the park, but Mahon denied the request a few days later, saying the village failed to show that it was suffering from irreparable harm because of the construction work.
In response, the village’s attorney, Michael Murphy, submitted a request for oral arguments to be heard on its proposal for a preliminary injunction at the end of December. According to court documents, the village wanted Mahon to grant the preliminary injunction to prohibit the state “from continuing construction at Belmont Park or any actions that would adversely impact the village and/or its residents, or is irreversible [and] incapable of restoration to the site’s original construction.”…
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State officials also noted that NYAP is “on a tight deadline to meet its contractual obligations,” and any delay to construction would be detrimental to neighboring communities that were promised “substantial economic investment” from the project.
Additionally, Jack Sterne, a spokesman for ESD, said in a statement that the redevelopment project “went through a transparent, public process that followed all requirements under state law,” and the ESD “will continue to vigorously defend this project, which will deliver thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in new economic activity for Long Islanders.”
As the lawsuit continues, some Elmont residents fear that it will become more difficult to reverse the effects of the development on the community. Aubrey Phillips, vice president of the Parkhurst Civic Association, explained that the government will soon be able to argue that it is “at the point of no return” in its construction work, and the lawsuit would thus be moot….