LI's hubs remain vexing visions of inactivity
The Nassau Hub with the Coliseum in the center, left, and the Ronkonkoma Hub with the LIRR station in the foreground. Credit: Ken Spencer, Newsday / John Paraskevas
When Suffolk County's latest request for ideas for the long-vacant Ronkonkoma property south of the Long Island Rail Road tracks emerged last week, the county gave the land a new moniker.
Long Island Hub.
But Long Island already has "the Hub" — the vast asphalt parking lots around Nassau Coliseum.
Both pieces of prime real estate could indeed be hubs, thanks to their locations and potential for development. The Ronkonkoma Hub does have a growing mix of housing and retail to the north of the LIRR, but the land to the south is mostly asphalt, devoid of economic activity. The Nassau Hub's centerpiece is an arena without an anchor tenant, surrounded mostly by asphalt, devoid of economic activity.
This tale of two Hubs is symbolic of the Island's decades-long struggle with development, a battle often mired in parochial and partisan politics and a relentlessly stubborn layer of NIMBYism. Together, the Hubs have issued every conceivable type of government "request" in a search for the answer.
So far, nearly every idea — from solar carports and life sciences labs to new arenas, hotels and housing — has failed, leaving dozens of acres of valuable land languishing. The reasons are numerous. A lack of courageous leadership. Developers either unwilling to compromise or unable to turn promises into reality. The inability of the Island's fiefdoms to work together. Unpredictable economic ups and downs. Lengthy approval processes that often transcend elected officials' terms. And the unfortunate notion that it's easier to say "No" than to say "Yes."
Tritec Real Estate's Station Yards development on the Ronkonkoma Hub's north side is the exception. But even that's more than a decade in the making; Tritec was designated as master developer in 2012.
Beyond that, the struggle continues. Both Hubs are making new attempts, with success far from guaranteed. In Ronkonkoma, Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine hopes his new request will generate "expressions of interest," perhaps followed by more definitive plans. Some $150 million in new state infrastructure funding could jump-start progress. But it's unclear what the Town of Islip will approve. And the landscape of economic uncertainty — including supply chain, inflation, tariff, and federal funding unknowns — will be a slalom difficult for anyone to navigate.
Nassau County's hopes for its Hub ride on the state's downstate casino siting process. Las Vegas Sands has made more progress than the Nassau Hub has seen in years, with a new lease, an environmental impact study underway, and zoning hearings supposedly to come. But whether Sands will get the approvals it needs — and the license it seeks — amid all the political, economic and competitive complexities, is far from a sure bet.
For years, I've joked with a source that we should meet at the Nassau Hub for lunch, but we would have to bring some deli sandwiches and a picnic blanket because there will never be a restaurant there. I still hope I'm wrong. But Long Island doesn't make it easy.
There's a fairy tale ending to the tale of two Hubs where both parcels finally become economic success stories, where hotels or housing or a casino or entertainment venue or health care facility or retail or restaurants or research labs or something entirely different becomes the region's next economic engine.
But for now, the more likely end is the predictable, more disappointing one. Perhaps another last-mile warehouse. Or a park. Or a parking lot, on which someday I'll have a corned beef sandwich.
Columnist Randi F. Marshall's opinions are her own.
Randi Marshall is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
