Gritty, puck-chewing, bacon-eating, harness-driving, Proactiv-selling, cat-lover and pontoon-riding Islanders fans finally woke up to the realization that the “Rocky Road to Nassau Coliseum” was no longer their road.
Facing no more trauma due to the loss of their arena, the Islanders officially filed to build a new arena — the biggest development project since the creation of the Queens World’s Fair — under the Long Island Rail Road tracks at Belmont Park.
While the Islanders still have decades of debt remaining from their last arena renovations, the construction of a new arena would not only erase a $165 million hole in the Islanders’ finances, but it would immediately bring the team to the second-highest attendance in the NHL, according to The Athletic.
With the NHL’s blessing and the help of New York State officials and even President Donald Trump, the project is aiming to set construction into motion next year.
And, so with visions of gold-capped outer-borough parking spaces dancing in their heads, Queens residents and Islander fans have had a nervous few months, worrying over the fate of the team, how Queens residents and Islanders fans alike will be affected, and even whether President Trump is secretly part of a Queens conspiracy.
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