Purépecha

Elmont, New York is a proud, resilient, and diverse community. We are working-class families, immigrant entrepreneurs, students, elders, and lifelong residents who have long called this corner of Long Island home. We are a town that has watched others build and benefit while we are left with empty promises and mounting burdens.

When the Belmont Park Redevelopment Plan was announced—complete with the shiny new UBS Arena—we were told this project would uplift Elmont. Empire State Development (ESD), the state’s chief economic development agency, stood before our community and pledged investments that would benefit us. One of the crown jewels of that promise? A long-overdue, fully funded community center.

It’s now 2025. The Islanders play their games. The arena hosts concerts, comedy tours, and massive events drawing thousands. Out-of-town traffic floods our streets. Rideshare congestion clogs our stores. Hooligans roam our neighborhoods. Streets are dirtier. Noise levels are higher. Local businesses see some foot traffic, yes—but at what cost?

Meanwhile, Elmont still has no community center.

This isn’t just about a building. It’s about broken trust. It’s about a historically Black and Brown community being exploited—again—by large developers, corporate interests, and institutions that claim to serve the public but serve only themselves.

Empire State Development’s own mission states it exists to “support diverse, prosperous local economies across New York State.” If that’s the case, then why does Elmont feel more like a cautionary tale than a success story?

What has been created at Belmont Park is not revitalization—it’s extraction. Wealth, opportunity, and decision-making have been taken out of the hands of residents and handed over to white-led investment groups and state agencies more interested in revenue than respect. The $1 million that was supposedly earmarked for our center? Still missing in action. No public update. No timeline. No plan. Just more delays.

Let’s be clear: Elmont is footing the bill without reaping the benefits.

We wait in traffic while events we can’t afford fill our streets. We wait for development that only seems to go in one direction—toward profit. And now, five years later, we’re still waiting for the one promise that was supposed to be for us.

Elmont is a prime location. Close to the city but rooted in suburban peace. That’s why they wanted us. But now that their arenas are open, their profits are flowing, and their construction crews have packed up—we’re left with congestion, exclusion, and contempt.

We demand better.

We demand transparency.
We demand a public update from ESD and NYAP.
We demand to know where the $1 million commitment is and when it will be delivered.
We demand to be part of the design, planning, and implementation of the community center.
We demand justice—for the time stolen, the community disrupted, and the promises broken.

To Nassau County officials, the ESD board, and every public leader who looked the other way: your silence is complicity.

To those still in positions of power: this is your chance to make it right.

If answers don’t come, the people of Elmont will file FOIL requests, organize town halls, speak to the press, and expose what’s happening here. Because we love our town more than they love profit. Because we are tired of being told to wait. Because we’re not asking for a handout—we’re demanding what was promised.

Our message is simple: Where’s our center?