The Islanders' new arena is both "on time" and late

A new arena brings new happy talk, of course. Islanders’ new UBS Arena on pace to open on time, the New York Post reported 9/30/21.

The Islanders will play their first 13 games on the road to open the season, providing an extra few weeks for the final cosmetic touches to be completed before the long-awaited UBS Arena opens at Belmont Park.

The franchise’s first home game isn’t slated to be played until Nov. 20 against the Flames, one night after a charity concert will be held to christen the team’s $1.1 billion new home.

“The arena is going to open on time,” Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky said Thursday before he accompanied members of the media on a tour of the 17,500-seat arena. 

Except, um, it's not.

It was supposed to open in October, as Newsday's not quite current article states. See screenshot at right.

No wonder construction is going into overtime. Remember, the Barclays Center was barely finished the day it opened in September 2012.

Eye on Isles noted, "Sure, the arena was supposed to be ready for the start of the 2021-22 season in October, but only losing a month is an incredible achievement."

Presumably Ledecky was speaking his truth, meaning "on time" as of the most recent projections.

The bigger picture

Seperately, Newsday reported 9/30/21, in A grand tour of UBS Arena, the Islanders' new home:

UBS Arena, which will hold 17,500 for hockey despite a ceiling, at 93 feet, just three feet higher than the Coliseum, still looks very much like a construction zone. But [Oak View's Tim] Leiweke said shifts have been added and work is proceeding seven days a week. All construction material is either on site or scheduled for delivery.

What about the rest of the project, contributing to projected overall economic benefits? Well, as Newsday reported:

A shopping mall and hotel are also planned, though construction has yet to start on either. A parking garage with 5,500 spaces near the arena is nearly complete.

Leiweke believes construction on the shopping mall could begin in early 2022.

Venues Now, in the 10/1/21, 50 DAYS OUT, UBS ARENA TEAM TOUTS ACCOMPLISHMENTS, suggested some strained optimism:

A playful atmosphere pervaded the conversation, as the parties acknowledged that, despite their optimism, plenty of work remains to get the 17,500-seat arena open on time.

Early in the panel, Ledecky, who moderated the discussion, asked Leiweke the million-dollar – or in UBS Arena’s case, the $1.5 billion – question: “Is it on time?”

“You think I’m going to say anything but ‘yes’ with the commissioner sitting here?” quipped Leiweke to audience chuckles. “I always tell everyone we’re going to open by November. Gary’s the only one that comes back to me and says, ‘Which year?'”

About music, the article states:

“Populous came in and did a phenomenal job with the bowl,” Leiweke said. “Chris Carver might be the most ingenious architect ever for trying to figure out how to create a phenomenal atmosphere for hockey and keep that noise in, but an acoustically perfect building for concerts, and try to take the reverb out — and that’s what this building did.”