The Future Nassau Hub
This page is to show the different parts of my proposal in full detail starting with a map of my proposal with simplified descriptions of each numbered section. The numbered sections also show the chronological order of which is fully described first.
The following numbered sections tell a simplified description of the objects on the map
1. A state of the art, retractable/fixed roof football stadium, home of the New York Jets and Cosmos with an underground greenhouse for playing fields and sportsbook.
2. 4- and 5-star Las Vegas Sands hotel and integrated resort (and possible casino.)
3. Nassau Veterans Memorial Park: a park and botanical garden remembering all the Military veterans of Nassau County.
4. Tailgate Tower Parking garages: specially designed, open air parking garages with vents and fans on ceilings to allow for tailgating before New York Jet and College Football games.
5. Tailgate Village: a tailgate village that has a full kitchen, a spacious bar, TVs, live bands, and plenty of tailgate offerings.
6. Pedestrian Bridge: a circular pedestrian bridge connecting both sides of Hempstead Turnpike and Glenn Curtiss Boulevard.
The Stadium
The Centerpiece of it all is a world class state-of-the-art retractable/fixed roof football stadium to be the new home of the New York Jets and possibly the New York Cosmos soccer team, as well as concerts, family shows, expo shows, etc. The New York Jets are one of the most iconic teams in sports, yet throughout their history, they never had a place they could truly call 100% home. The Polo Grounds was a Jewel Box ballpark in disrepair. Shea Stadium, the closest thing to a home of their own, they were treated like second class citizens. Giants Stadium, although called “The Meadowlands” and decorated to look more Jet friendly, couldn’t hide the fact that they were playing in Giants Stadium. MetLife Stadium was designed to be neutral but with it looking like a modern style skyscraper, which is what the Giants are named after as well as the Giants baseball team before they moved to San Francisco, the stadium reflects the Giants more than the Jets. Also the sterile setting of the stadium is something many fans don't like because the stadium doesn't have a defining characteristic. Giving the Jets their own stadium would allow the Giants to retrofit MetLife Stadium to be Giant exclusive similar to what the New York Mets did to Shea Stadium in the 1980s once the Jets left. With the Jets about to hit the 15th year of their lease at MetLife Stadium, the Jets can opt out of their lease if they give the state of New Jersey 12 months’ notice. The first opportunity for the Jets to opt out of their lease will occur in 2025 with a notice date of 2024, which is this year.
The stadium itself would be designed to look like an aircraft hangar with classic and modern design elements. This is to honor both the New York Jets and New York Cosmos name, and it would also honor Long Island’s historic contributions to both aviation and space exploration. The mixture of both classic and modern design elements for the proposed stadium also helps the stadium blend in with its surroundings. The classic design elements allow the stadium to create the image of the aircraft hangars at the neighboring Cradle of Aviation Museum. The modern design elements help the stadium blend in with the casino hotel on the property as well as to please the Jets design tastes for a modern and sleek look highlighted with metal and glass. The design of the stadium also would tell a story. With the classic and modern design details incorporated into the new stadium, it tells the stories of both aviation and the New York Jets. Both had humble beginnings and have established themselves as the years went by and are ready to take flight to new heights.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman expressed that although he is willing to let the Sands do what they wish with the Nassau Coliseum, expressed his desire that the iconic arena could still be used for sports like arena football or indoor soccer. Executive Blakeman makes a good point. The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum is not only iconic and historic, it is holy ground for its sports history, its entertainment history, and the arena is called Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum for a reason. Demolishing an arena dedicated to the military veterans who lived in the area is an absolute insult to them. It insults the service that they have provided for each and every one of us to live out the freedoms that we live with. Freedom is not free. It is the sacrifice of each one of these men and women that has provided us the freedom to even experience our lives in America. To destroy the arena to rubble and cast it away would be a complete insult to their sacrifice for each and every one of us. With this in mind, the proposed stadium would be a reborn version of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The stadium although built with new materials, will have the bones and soul of the Nassau Coliseum in it construction. Examples of this would include remixing the old concrete, melting down the steel structure of the Nassau Coliseum and infusing it into the new steel structure, using the old brick exterior of the Nassau Coliseum and infusing it into the four corners of the stadium, glass windows recycled, etc. The black seats (one of the Jets 3 colors) will be put into the new stadium as well as the 8 memorial seats for the 5 branches of the US Military, POW/MIA, First Responders, and 9/11 victims. A new seat for the US Space Force will join the memorial group of seats and the 9 seats will never be occupied. Historical plaques from inside the Nassau Coliseum such as the dedication plaque inside of the main entrance will be preserved inside the stadium. The various photos from all the concerts and events that currently decorate the Nassau Coliseum will be put into the new stadium to show the arena’s old music history and to indicate the big musical acts to come to the new stadium. The two musical banners showing the 34 sold out Billy Joel shows, and the 44 Grateful Dead/Dead & Company shows will be put in the rafters of the new stadium. Parts of the Nassau Coliseum that can't be used in the stadium like the scoreboard or the ice machine will be put into the Nassau Coliseum Museum, one of two or possibly three museums in the stadium showcasing the history of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum when it was an indoor arena before being turned into a football stadium. The other two museums are the New York Jets hall of fame and possibly the New York Cosmos hall of fame.
The stadium would have either a retractable roof or fixed roof so the stadium can have events year-round. Taking inspiration from the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid, Spain, the stadium would have two retractable grass playing fields. There will be one for football and one for soccer. Both fields will be grass and will get divided into trays and are stored in an underground greenhouse so the field is always in good condition. This allows the stadium to have other events like world class concerts, expo shows and conventions, family shows, etc. all year long.
Although the main purpose of the stadium is to host football and soccer games, concerts, family shows, and other events, the stadium will be integrated with the Sands resort and be a bigger part of the resort than what meets the eyes. After studying the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium renovation, I decided to take some of their ideas and put them into the new stadium. The stadium will have a betting lounge inside along with integrated shops, space for tours and events, and upper level restaurants. Below are a series of rough sketches of the proposed stadium. Two sketches show the south side window open and closed, one for the north side, two for the east and west sides, and three showing the retractable roof in three stages. Updated designs coming soon.
The Las Vegas Sands 4 and 5 star hotel resort and possible casino
I personally have gone to Las Vegas for my 21st birthday in 2018 and all I can say is, it is without a doubt one of the best experiences of my life. There was entertainment, music, gaming, attractions, world class food and drink, etc. Basically, it was a place to remember. What I loved about Las Vegas is that no matter who you are, you can have the time of your life for there is something for everyone. Everywhere I went in Las Vegas, it always surprised me with more fun and exciting things to do. The trip to Las Vegas taught me more about hospitality and more about how a resort should be.
While in Las Vegas, I saw towering hotels and casinos that caught not only my attention, but the attention of everyone around me. Despite their towering sizes, depending on the resort, the main part of the resort usually fitted in a relatively small place. I studied the area sizes of various resort hotels and casinos in Las Vegas and they usually fall around 10 acres of land in usual size, some more, some less. The other features like convention spaces, parking garages, and other parts of the resorts took up more space. When I went into the casinos and hotels in Las Vegas, they had stores, spas, restaurants, entertainment centers, etc. all in one place without taking up a lot of land usually. This allowed me to study the land size of not only the Nassau Hub, but the various sections of the parking lots.
The hotel complex I envisioned would be on the northern part of the Nassau Hub and will have a 5-story base with a 4-star room tower and a 5-star room tower connected by a rooftop skypark. The base of the hotel complex will have a full casino if the Sands is awarded a gaming license, with card playing tables, slots machines, a sportsbook and a high roller section. The base will have multiple shops and restaurants that serve food from casual to fine dining. There will also be an indoor pool, a day spa, a gym and wellness center, and meeting rooms and ball rooms, and various other amenities. On the top of the base is two towers that contain the rooms and suites. One tower will be the 4-star tower and will have rooms, suites, service, and the other amenities that are found in 4-star hotels. The other tower is the 5-star tower and is the 5-star upgrade to the 4-star tower and will be the first 5-star hotel on Long Island. Both towers will be of equal height and will be connected by the villa levels on the top 2 floors of each tower.
On top of the casino hotel, is the ultimate form of rooftop luxury. There you will find a place called “The Estate in the Sky.” Inspired by the Marina Bay Sands Skypark in Singapore, and Laputa in “Gulliver’s Travels” and “Castle in the Sky,” the “Estate in the Sky” will take guests to a setting only found in fantasy. The “Estate in the Sky” will have an observation deck, a rooftop restaurant with an outdoor seating area, a Japanese garden with a high-end Japanese restaurant, along with an infinity pool and a 4-story mansion at the east end. Underneath the estate is the platform that sits on top of the casino hotel below.
The observation deck will allow the guests to look all over the surrounding area. To the North, the guests will see Nassau Community College and Museum Row. To the East, guests will see the Francis T. Purcell Hempstead Plains preserve, Eisenhower Park, and in the distance, Nassau University Medical Center. To the South, the guests will look at the New York Jets/New York Cosmos stadium and Nassau Veterans Memorial Park below. And to the West, guests will see in the distance the New York Skyline.
On the western end of the “estate” is a rooftop restaurant, bar and lounge with outdoor seating. Guests will be able to dine in the sky with breathtaking views and a great atmosphere. There will be a poolside bar that is open to both restaurant guests and poolside guests so everyone can have something to eat and drink regardless if you are at the table or not. Behind the restaurant is the Men and Women’s locker rooms for pool guests.
The infinity pool is similar to the one at the Marina Bay Sands Skypark in Singapore but this one will be larger and go around the entire floating “estate.” It will also divide the different sections of the “estate” by connecting the northern part of the pool and the southern part of the pool. Four bridges over the pool canals connect the whole “estate” together, with two connecting the rooftop restaurant to the Japanese gardens. One connecting the Japanese gardens to the observation deck, and the fourth bridge connecting the Japanese gardens to the gate of the castle. Similar to the rooftop pool at the TWA Hotel at JFK International Airport, it will be cool in the summer and hot in the winter so it will be open year-round. There will be beach chairs and cabanas on the southern edges of the rooftop restaurant and the Japanese gardens laid out for the pool guests in the summer months.
The rooftop Japanese garden will have all the calm and natural beauty of the traditional Japanese garden like pools with koi, wooden bridges, running water, stones, statues, bushes, and lamps. In the garden, there is a traditional style Japanese restaurant. The restaurant will give the guests the experience of dining in a traditional Japanese setting without being in Japan.
At the east end of the “estate” is a 4-story mansion style castle, inspired by the Oheka Castle in Huntington, New York, and the Mansion at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The design of the castle is borrowed from Long Island’s Gold Coast estate homes, gothic revival homes and medieval European castles sprinkled with a little fantasy element similar to Lord of the Rings and other fantasy novels. The castle will be the epitome of luxury and will have around 30 villas, each with a round the clock butler and other amenities, a full castle staff, a dining hall with classically trained chefs that cook cuisine from around the world, personalized menus and afternoon tea, private indoor pool and spa, an art collection with antique furniture, state of the art media and conference rooms, a private cigar lounge, a library, and a private garden in the front courtyard.
The whole castle has a wall around it with a gate with solid doors in the front of the castle, giving complete privacy to the guests staying at the castle. Thanks to the infinity pool and the canals that connect the northern and southern parts of it, the castle will have a moat with a bridge connecting the Japanese gardens to the gate of the castle. Beyond the front gate is the private garden and front courtyard. In the center there will be a fountain surrounded by many flowers, bushes, hedges, and small trees. Although the villas differ in size and location and certain amenities, each villa will have a full bathroom with a steam/sauna shower and a separate jetted bathtub, a parlor area, dining room, powder room and a pantry. In the walls of the castle, everyone is treated like royalty and is given the best of service.
Although everything in the castle is exclusive to guests staying there, there is one hidden gem in this castle. The only part of the castle open to guests and non-guests is a 3 Michelin star, AAA 5 diamond award caliber restaurant. Inspired by the late Joel Robuchon’s restaurant at the Mansion at the MGM Grand, this restaurant will become the highest rated restaurant on Long Island and serve food so delicious and enticing, that people from all over the restaurant and culinary world would journey to the restaurant similar to how they make food pilgrimages to world class restaurants like The French Laundry or Eleven Madison Park for example.
The main part of the hotel and the base, from the ground up to the very bottom of the “Estate in the Sky,” would be 19 stories, or around 299 feet. The whole “Estate in the Sky” from the bottom of the platform, to the highest points of the castle would be 6 stories, about 94 feet. From the ground level, all the way to the tallest points of the castle, the entire casino hotel structure would be 25 stories tall, around 392 feet. That would make the casino hotel the tallest building in suburban Long Island, breaking the record held by Stony Brook University Hospital.
Below are images of a rough sketch of the proposed Hotel complex and possible casino and a map of "The Estate in the Sky." The white blocks in the map are cabana locations for reference.
Nassau Veterans Memorial Park
The Nassau Veterans Memorial Park would have the flag poles from the Nassau Coliseum, along with the Nassau Veterans memorial fountain and eternal flame, as well as the two dedication plaques from the arenas original opening in 1972. The park will be an outdoor community space and will have a beautiful botanical garden where people can walk through the floral scenery, while remembering the sacrifice our veterans made to make this all possible.
Tailgate Tower Parking Garages
One of the most sacred parts of the football gameday experience is the pregame tailgate. The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum parking lots were known to have tailgating before Islander games. Now although there is parking on the property near the stadium, in order to increase parking capacity in a small space, parking garages need to be built. However, with how parking garages are generally built, tailgating inside means no grills for safety and ventilation reasons.
In construction, parking garages are regarded as an afterthought. However, the Circa Resort and Casino on Fremont Street in Las Vegas built a parking garage called the "Garage Mahal" that is built with the latest transportation trends in mind, and features an air-conditioned level, hidden central utility plant, and a pedestrian bridge connecting guests to the adjacent Circa Resort & Casino. The exterior façade features LED lights, metal panels, and EIFS to mirror the finishes of Circa Resort & Casino. With this in mind, I thought that if they could put that much effort into a parking garage for comfort and efficiency, why not a parking garage built for tailgating?
My proposed parking garages would be open air with vents and fans built into the ceilings. The fans and vents would suck up all the smoke and fumes from the tailgating going on inside and the smoke would be filtered out through filtered chimneys so clean, filtered air comes out.
Tailgate Village
Although the parking lots and the Tailgate Tower Parking Garages allow tailgating, there are fans who don't cook at a tailgate. The Tailgate Village on the west side of the stadium will offer tailgate offerings that will please all kinds of palates. There is no need for a ticket to be in the Tailgate Village for it will be open to the public. There is a full kitchen inside so the food is cooked on site and comes out fresh and hot. There is also a spacious bar serving beer, wine, and drinks for all types of patrons. Televisions are present throughout the village so fans can watch the game. The Tailgate Village will also have live bands and music.
Pedestrian Bridge
Fans parking in the Tailgate Tower Parking Garage on the south side of Hempstead Turnpike won't need to walk two crosswalks in order to get onto the Nassau Hub property. Taking inspiration from a small design feature from the formally proposed Lighthouse Project, a circular pedestrian bridge will connect both sides of Hempstead Turnpike so fans can cross the street safely.