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Reported by Newsday this weekend, residents of Elmont rallied to protest the building of the NY Cosmos proposed 25,000 seat capacity stadium. This privately funded $400 million dollar project was submitted for approval to New York State over 3 1/2 years ago. The state has been accused of dragging their feet in this process. Cosmos COO Erik Stover has stated the NY Cosmos have provided all the necessary paperwork and everything was in accordance with New York State requirements.
"This whole process you can say comfortably that it's been an embarrassment for everybody involved," he said. "Three and a half years into this process and I've talked to some of you about the fact if we stayed on the original timeline that we proposed, we would be playing there now."
Cosmos Chief Operating Officer Erik Stover
To further complicate matters, Elmont residents are expressing concern over potential hooliganism and problems typical to neighborhoods that house professional sports teams. They are worried about increased traffic and crime that would be ushered into their neighborhoods. While the number of residents who came out to oppose the plans was put at around 20, it did garner local media coverage.
Not everyone shares their sentiment however. Local unions and organizations welcome the opportunity to increase jobs and commerce. Some residents are clamoring for something to rally the community behind and would welcome a historic and community oriented organization such as the NY Cosmos.
"You can't look at circumstances like this and not see how its detrimental to the growth of our organization," Stover said. "All I know we haven't heard back on the process other than to say that they're satisfied with our answers and they have no further questions," he said. "Why a decision hasn't been made over the last two or three months, I don't know."
With both sides of the bench shouting, it is difficult to see how this will play out. NY Cosmos were expecting an approval years ago and are now considering other options. This doesn't mean Elmont is out of the question - but we can all agree Hofstra University is a temporary solution to a seemingly permanent problem.