Nassau Hub plan gains legislative approval to move forward

As expected, the Nassau County Legislature agreed to grant developers Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment Global and RXR Realty the authority to continue with their plan to convert the Nassau Hub into a live-work-play environment.

In amending the 49-year-old lease on the 72-acre parcel surrounding Nassau Coliseum, the legislator’s 19-0 vote gave developers the permission to draft a site plan and lay out more details.

Conditions of the agreement are that the developers must enter a project labor agreement with local building trade councils, provide quarterly updates to the legislature and hold public meetings with more information about the Nassau Hub’s progress.

Such meetings will be act as a conduit for residents and workers to learn and ask questions about the community benefits agreement and project labor agreement that the developers have promised will be included in their $1.5 billion plan.

Under the agreement, the legislature also has the right to establish an advisory committee regarding the community benefits agreement and reject further agreements if unsatisfied.

On Dec. 3, the County Legislature’s Rules and Planning committees unanimously approved the same amendment despite voicing concerns about the community benefits agreement and project labor agreement.

Legislator Kevan Abrahams, a Democrat from Freeport and a ranking member of the Rules Committee, criticized the developers, and Curran’s administration, for not offering specific information about the agreement or plans for implementing it.

“You’re going to have to come back to us on the 17th with more than just language,” Abrahams said on Dec. 3. “Today you’re just not there.”

Legislator Siela Bynoe, a Democrat from Westbury, agreed, saying, “I would like to see a document that frames the potential activities that would be achieved for the benefit of local residents, coupled with a financial formula.”

The plan was originally presented at a Nov. 27 public hearing by partners Brett Yormark, chief executive officer of Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment, and Scott Rechler, chairman and chief executive officer of RXR Realty. It includes 600,000 square feet of life sciences, research and development space, 200,000 square feet of entertainment and retail, 500 units of multi-family housing, two hotels and open public space.

The first phase of the project, which includes the construction of two state-funded parking garages with 3,400 spaces, a Northwell Health Innovation Center and half of the housing and entertainment units, is expected to begin in 18 to 24 months.

Many residents of the surrounding area said they would like to know more of the details of the development plan, Frank Camarano, president of the East Meadow Chamber of Commerce, said. On Jan. 15, the chamber will host a community meeting at which legislators will meet with residents and answer questions about the plan. A place and time have yet to be determined.