Opinion: Parking Is Going to Be a Mess at UBS Arena
UBS Arena might have the most convoluted parking scheme of any professional sports arena I’ve ever been to.
Three exits get you to three distinct parking lots. If you get off at the wrong exit, good luck getting back on the Cross Island Parkway to fix your mistake. The highway has notoriously bad traffic during rush hour, much worse than the Meadowbrook Parkway that served Nassau Coliseum.
Like it or not, moving the team’s arena creates at least a slight culture change. Sure, UBS Arena is still in Nassau County and yes, it was built with Islanders fans in mind. I’m confident that the experience will be comparable to, if not better than, Nassau Coliseum (which is why I bought season tickets), but the arena borders New York City, not only from a geographic standpoint but from a way-of-life one too.
If I wanted to see the Islanders play at Nassau Coliseum, I could make that decision an hour before puck drop. I’d grab a friend, pick up two decently-priced tickets on SeatGeek using code Drive4Five to save $20 and drive 15 minutes to the arena. That might still be true if you live near UBS Arena, but that’s not the case for most Long Island residents. I’ll miss the intimacy of having my Long Island team in my Long Island backyard. Now, my 14-mile trip to the Queens border will take at least twice as long by car because of the aforementioned traffic on the Southern State and Cross Island Parkways.
I fear the lines to get into the parking lot. Hempstead Turnpike was the worst part of my commute at the Coliseum, with the worst traffic in the right lane turning into the parking lot. Now, we have to contend with cars drudging through rush hour traffic on a similar three-lane highway.
On top of that, we have to pay at least $30 for the Emerald or South lots (compared to half of that at the Coliseum) and wait for a shuttle bus to take us to the bag check. Afterward, the non-VIPs need to keep walking around the arena to the main entrance during cold winter months. This should be fun.
My hope is that the added train and bus accessibility will lighten the burden on the Cross Island. The new Elmont Station opened earlier this week and there will be two trains leaving Jamaica Station for Belmont Park Station on gameday. Additionally, UBS Arena shuttles will serve the Queens Village Station. I never minded taking the train when the Islanders played in Brooklyn. I considered it like paying for Nassau Coliseum parking, just with a longer commute.
Fortunately (I guess), I won’t be at opening night on Saturday against the Calgary Flames, so all of you who intend on parking at UBS Arena or taking the train there will be my guinea pigs. Let me know how it goes (@Ben_J_Baruch on Twitter) and I’ll use your advice when I come home from college to see the Islanders play the Rangers next Wednesday.
Born and raised on Long Island. Isles fan since 2009. Studying journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park.
