Pennacchio Once Again Calls for Meadowlands Convention Study to Move Forward

February 16, 2024

State Senator Joe Pennacchio (R-Morris/Passaic) is calling for the legislature to advance his bill that would direct the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA) to conduct a feasibility study of the Meadowlands convention center project.

Pennacchio’s legislation, S375—which was first introduced in 2008 and reintroduced in January of this year—directs the NJSEA to undertake a feasibility study of establishing and operating a convention center project on or near the site of the arena project owned and operated by the authority within the Meadowlands complex.

The current arena, formerly known as the Izod Center, first opened in 1981. It closed 34 years later in 2015, but was vacated by the former Nets and Devils years before that happened.

The Meadowlands Chamber of Commerce released its own feasibility study for a new convention center a year ago, calling its economic impact “overwhelming.” They cited the cost of a convention center and hotel costs to be $2.1 billion, with the convention center costing $1.6 billion.

“Although the costs are significant, the chamber study showed that the project could generate $30 billion dollars in new spending, create 6,000 new jobs, and eventually produce $3.5 billion in new tax revenue for New Jersey,” said Pennacchio. “If the state is going to consider a convention center, the state itself should conduct its own study and not rely on an outside party. The Meadowlands redevelopment—with a convention center attracting thousands of people paying millions of dollars—is certainly something that should be looked at, and the time to do it is now.”

If constructed, the new complex would be a state-of-the art convention center rivaling the Javits Center in Manhattan—which opened in 1986 and is nearly 40 years old.

“New York has no problem directing to New Jersey what they feel is in their best interests, such as congestion pricing,” added Pennacchio. “It is time to take control of our own economic destiny.”