The Latest: Cuomo hails NY Islanders' return to Long Island

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 1:32 p.m. ET

ELMONT, N.Y. (AP) The Latest on the Islanders moving from Brooklyn (all times local):

12:30 p.m.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the announcement that the New York Islanders will move from Brooklyn to a new arena at the Belmont Park racetrack is ''a great day for Long Island.''

Cuomo joined Islanders owner Jon Ledecky, National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman and others for the announcement Wednesday.

Cuomo says Long Island ''lost something'' when the Islanders moved to Brooklyn's Barclays Center in 2015. He says the team is part of the identity and culture of Long Island.

Ledecky says the new $1 billion facility will include a hotel and retail space. He says it will be ''the home of economic development.''

The Islanders will stay in Brooklyn through the end of next season. No date has been given for when the new arena will open.

---

10:10 a.m.

It's hardly the Dodgers going to Los Angeles, but another major sports franchise is leaving Brooklyn.

The New York Islanders, who moved from their suburban home to Brooklyn in 2015, have won a bid to build a new arena on the grounds of the Belmont Park horse track.

State officials confirmed the deal Wednesday ahead of a formal announcement. The racetrack is home to the third leg of horse racing's Triple Crown.

The National Hockey League team beat out a bid from the New York City FC soccer team, which envisioned building a stadium on the site in Elmont, just east of New York City.

The Islanders played at the Nassau Coliseum from 1972 until 2015. Fans never fully embraced their new home at Brooklyn's Barclays Center.

in this topic

New York Islanders

National Hockey League