In baseball, optimists have a standard battle cry – “Wait till next year.”
We would like to bring that kind of hope for success to Nassau County by highlighting some key initiatives we want to see implemented in 2026.
This begins but does not end with a familiar topic: the development of the Nassau Hub, 70 acres of mostly former parking lots and underutilized land right in the middle of the county.
The site is eight or nine miles east of the Queens border, seven or eight miles west of the Suffolk County line, about six miles south of the Long Island Sound and six miles north of the Atlantic Ocean. It is close to the Meadowbrook Parkway, Hempstead Turnpike, the Northern State Parkway and the Southern State Parkway.
Highly touted and strongly debated proposals have been made for the site over the past several decades, only to be undone.
But as they say in baseball, hope springs eternal.
Despite Las Vegas Sands’ decision to withdraw its application for a casino, plans remain to transform the area around the Nassau Coliseum into a walkable, mixed-use downtown. This would include housing, retail and commercial space, entertainment and cultural uses as well as improved open space.
The development should also include a second hope of ours – ways to address traffic congestion in Nassau County.
A Nassau Hub Transit Initiative Alternatives Analysis in 2024 highlights evolving transit options for the area — including a preferred Bus Rapid Transit service tied to LIRR stations — meant to knit together Uniondale, Mineola, Hempstead and surrounding hubs. We would want to see a second look at a modern streetcar/light rail solution that might be more expensive and take more time to implement but could be superior in the long run.
This being the HUB, we would also like to see greater north-south integration included. We would also add pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, including shared bike and scooter shares.
None of this is impossible. Just look a few miles away.
The UBS Arena, located adjacent to Belmont Park in Elmont, now serves as the home of the New York Islanders hockey team and a venue for high-profile entertainers, a role previously filled by the Nassau Coliseum. It has been joined by Belmont Village, a high-end mixed-use development featuring restaurants, bars, cafes, retail shops, and public plazas that serves as a walkable downtown.
The MTA, through the Long Island Rail Road, built a brand-new station adjacent to the UBS Arena, the first new LIRR station in nearly 50 years. The arena’s developers, New York Arena Partners/UBS Arena, paid over 90% of the $105 million project cost, with New York State covering the balance.
The station has since become part of regular LIRR service patterns, with connections from NYC and Long Island greatly improving access to the arena via public transit. The MTA celebrated over 1 million riders using the LIRR to travel to or from UBS Arena events.
New York City’s congestion pricing plan faced opposition on Long Island, but it has helped increase transit ridership, reaching post-pandemic highs on buses and subways within months of its implementation. And commuters are experiencing time savings, with some reporting an average of 21 minutes saved each way.
The 3rd track between Floral Park and Hicksville has also improved rail transportation for a large portion of the LIRR on Long Island. And the East Side Access project made it more convenient for many Nassau residents to travel to Manhattan.
A well-developed plan for the Hub would make Nassau more accessible to people in the county and beyond.
We also hope the Hub can be part of efforts by towns and villages to increase housing in Nassau County.
Nassau County’s housing shortfall has been a boon for current owners, driving up home prices.
But the housing shortage in Nassau County has driven people out of the state. It has also hindered local businesses’ ability to attract new employees, homeowners who want to downsize but still reside in Nassau, and people who wish to relocate here.
The obvious solution is for villages and towns to adopt the approach taken by New York City—updating their zoning laws to reflect the current needs of their communities. In Nassau County’s case, this means permitting multi-family construction as of right in certain areas, such as near LIRR train stations.
There is a precedent for this.
The villages of Mineola and Farmingdale have both successfully revitalized their communities through zoning changes. The Town of Oyster Bay has done the same in Hicksville.
Remote work, superior schools, and a suburban lifestyle have driven a desire for many to live in Nassau County.
There is a way to share the county with more people, reduce congestion, and provide more places for residents to enjoy.
This could be the year.
