Well -- had the tour yesterday -- some pics below. Whatever you are imagining, its far better.
I nearly wept.
There is nothing of interest around the arena. Cross Island and Belmont Park (horse track) take up the West and North sides. South side is Route 24 which is littered with traffic, awful chain and convenience stores. So I think you're going to eat before you get into the area, or pay and spend your money at the "arena". Certainly a hero, beer, and some hockey sticks in the parking lot would be an angle Id look at too.
The area south of 24 will be the future parking garage for STH and the shopping area which apparently will house high end retail shops.. bars/restaurants -- so maybe some better hang out places when those are complete in a couple of years. They are concentrating on getting the arena done, of course. My tour was 4:30 on Saturday and there was not one worker to be found. The guide did say there are 800 workers on site daily and soon to be over a thousand in the final push to get this place done. Gentlemen, its f***ing beautiful.
The outside part is going to be a huge party zone -- they made a special mention that everything inside the green fencing (which you cant see from the pics) is within their liquor license, so expect some pregame fun outside. There is an outdoor upper level terrace (two of them, I only saw one) which overlooks the party zone in the northeast corner. The main lobby/entrance is epic. Massive TV's show you the action as you are walking through the concourse. 8 bars overlook the ice. And of course, grabbed a pic of the upper level Cupholders. THANK YOU LEDECKY!!! LOL
The picture which is sideways -- you can see how the seating in the suites, are un-covered and right out in the crowd!!!
Enjoy!!!
