Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Goal! Cosmos Want To Build A Stadium By Belmont
By
Garth Johnston
Published Jan 16, 2013
Modified Jan 16, 2013
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
handout
By
Garth Johnston
Published Jan 16, 2013
Modified Jan 16, 2013
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Who needs hockey when you can have soccer? The recently reborn New York Cosmos has proposed to build a $400 million, privately funded, 25,000-seat North American Soccer League stadium at Belmont Park in Elmont Long Island, Newsday reports. This stadium is not to be confused with the Major League Soccer stadium that has been pitched for Flushing Meadows.
"It will become a destination and it will put Elmont on the map," Seamus O'Brien, chairman and chief executive of the Cosmos, told Newsday on Tuesday. "It will become a facility that will be renown, not just in North America but worldwide." Local politicians, meanwhile, hope the project could make up for some of what Long Island will lose after the Islanders relocate across the island to Brooklyn for the 2015-16 season.
"I made it clear from the start: We'll look to build our own home," O'Brien told SI.com making digs at the proposed MLS stadium in Queens. "We'd evaluated a number of sites within greater New York City. ... It's a state tender, so we're responding to an RFP, not trying to stick the stadium somewhere else. It's in a neighborhood that's effectively zoned as a sports facility with great transportation linkage, road and rail straight in, and a huge car parking [area]."
In addition to the stadium, team officials hope to build a 60,000-square-foot "restaurant row" with nine eateries, a 175-room hotel, a community center, community soccer fields worth $2.5 million, a footbridge to connect portions of the site and more. They also hope that the LIRR will make the Belmont station, normally only open on a limited basis for races, open for soccer events.
The Cosmos proposal was sent to the State Economic Development Corporation on Friday and now has to work its way through a reviewal process there. If it gets the green light, however, officials hope to break ground early next year. And for now it has some good support: "It's something that the community wants and definitely needs," Sandra Smith, chairwoman of the Elmont Coalition for Sustainable Development, said. "It exceeds all of our expectations."
Tagged
Belmont
cosmos
elmont
goal
long island
mls
nasl
ny cosmos
soccer
stadium
Garth Johnston
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Mamdani names re-entry specialist as chair of Rikers oversight board
Christopher Watler will help the department that a federal monitor says remains in crisis.
By
Ryan Kost
Published Oct 6, 2026 at 3:52 p.m. ET
NYC weighs expanding upstate reservoir following drought
The Delaware River Basin Commission is evaluating options to increase water storage, including expanding a reservoir in New York City.
By
Rosemary Misdary
News
NYC weighs expanding upstate reservoir following drought
The Delaware River Basin Commission is evaluating options to increase water storage, including expanding a reservoir in New York City.
By
Rosemary Misdary
Legionella found in Staten Island building's water system after 2 positive cases
By
Catalina Gonella
Legal 'loophole' helps NY Gov. Kathy Hochul, Bruce Blakeman raise millions
By
Jon Campbell
Police identify 2 men wanted for stabbing an off-duty NYPD officer
By
Ben Feuerherd
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .