Rachel Maddow Pwns "Formerly" Gay Author Who "Cures" Gays
Teacher Hot For Teacher In Brooklyn High School
Oh D'Oh They Didn't! TSA Posts Airport Screening Manual On Web
MTV Staffers Receiving Threats Over Jersey Shore
Bike Lane Repainters: "We're Self-Hating Jewish Hipsters"
Rendering of the Lighthouse, the proposed new home for the Islanders
It was almost 30 years ago that the New York Islanders began their run of four-straight Stanley Cup victories. They had sprung up from scratch in 1972 and quickly supplanted their local rival, the New York Rangers, as the preeminent hockey team in the area. But the team, which is currently the worst in the NHL, hasn’t won a playoff series since 1993 and may be moving out of town in the near future. While he hasn’t explicitly said it, Charles Wang sent a message to the Town of Hempstead last week with the scheduling of an exhibition game in Kansas City: approve the Lighthouse Project or lose the Islanders.
It is impossible to blame Wang for this stance. He is reportedly losing over $20 million a year on the Islanders and they play in the worst building in the league. So, you cannot blame him for wanting to change the facilities that the team plays in, but should the Lighthouse Project gain approval?
Yes, it should, but with some modifications. The website for the project bills it as “a modern 24/7 suburban center.” Besides redoing the Coliseum, there will be residential and commercial phases to it. All of this sounds good, but there are pointless features as well. Does the project really need a minor league ballpark? Not with the Cyclones in Brooklyn and the Ducks in Islip. Scrap that part. In addition, where is the public transportation? Currently, you cannot take the LIRR directly to the Coliseum, that has to change and a stop should be built into the project. Finally, in return for approval, the Islanders need to extend their lease of the Coliseum far beyond their proposed end of 2025.
Saving the Islanders will not be easy in this economic climate. The proposal claims that “Nassau County will not be providing any financial support for the project” and that claim needs to be examined closely. But, if it is true and the project is modified, keeping the Islanders is something that Long Islanders should get behind.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
Sydney2000 was nine years ago.
Kansas City has a new arena that's just sitting there empty. You can easily imagine that the city will be putting together an incentives practice that will be very difficult for Nassau to match.
Someone in KC is gonna look like a genius for building an arena without a team.
The Islanders don't need a new arena, they need a new team, and that is not going to happen with the obscenely incompetent ownership and management regime that's been in place for the past 10 years. If they get a new building and continue to maintain last place in the standings, just as few fans are going to be willing to shell out $50+ a seat to watch them suck.
The Islanders desperately need a new arena. The Coliseum is a shit-hole.
It's no worse than the Garden, or a half-dozen other arenas that are reasonably full because they have good teams in them.
"Let's Keep the Islanders on Long Island."
Yes, please. All of them.
How about moving them to Staten Island?
No more corporate welfare for these sport teams. If they want to go let some other place get these greedy leeches.
I think any private citizen or business stuck in Nassau County would take any opportunity to get the hell out of that mis-managed, overtaxed dump.
Move 'em to Atlantic Yards with the Nets.
Burns said it best yesterday. Paraphrased here:
'Use taxpayers money to build a playground for rich people (in their skyboxes)'
Sports tickets are too expensive and the Islanders have alot of competition for fans in the metropolitan area. They do need a new arena though and 'the lighthouse' sounds cool. But Kansas City will be a tough place to beat.
The Islanders have a genuinely historic arena, which is something to be noted. The place, however, desparately needs updating. The rest of the Lighthouse project is not needed, but the arena is.
Like the situation with the Atlantic Yards plan, the area does not need everything around the arena, like all the housing and towers. But, unlike the ATL Yards plan, the place already has an arena. The area does need commercial capital around the arena on Hempstead Turnpike, which will immediately benefit Nassau County capital.
BTW - the Isles just made OT against teh Capitals. On January 19, 2009, they earned their first point of 2009. It is truly a loooong season.
Personally, I always thought Islanders fans were scary people. So, as a class thing, I'm against the Islanders, and against hockey in general.
So, I hate the idea of tax dollars going to these people.
If a business case can be made, and it is a sane one, then let the Islanders stay.
If they can only stay with a Yankee Stadium size deal and massive government support, with boxes for the county and underhanded deals, then they should leave.
The truth is that I don't trust the government in place in Nassau County that will potentially raise my taxes. So forget it.
BTW, I am truly amazed by the size of the parking lot at Nassau Coliseum. It is one of the biggest paved surfaces in the world.
Waitaminute WAIT A MINUTE? Charles Wang is not to blame?! Charles Wang's mismangement is absolutely to blame. He likely lost more than 20 million a year hiring his son to run his company back in the day, and to keep him on after repeated acts of incompetence. Guess he wanted to justify paying for his college. Funny how he did the same with Milbury...maybe he saw him as another son.
Wang computers is a non-entity in the business. Between the Mike Milbury fiasco as well, and signing dipietro to a ridiculous contract and making it seem like the best decision ever in hockey, it's proof that ownership dictates attendance as much as the team sucking.
Why did the author forget to mention the SI Yanks?