Nassau County is losing its only major sports franchise, as the New York Islanders announced plans to join the National Basketball Association’s Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Center beginning in the 2015 National Hockey League season.
The move is the latest chapter in a series of unsuccessful efforts to redevelop team owner Charles Wang’s 77-acre Nassau Hub property that includes the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Nassau County officials lamented Wang’s termination of the team’s four-decade residency in Uniondale, voicing concerns over the economic impact of the decision and, in the case of 11th District County Legislator Wayne Wink, decrying the political gridlock that Wink said scuttled redevelopment proposals.
“This is a really sad day for Nassau County,” said Wink. “Unfortunately, politics and intransigence has really, I think, led to this. The opportunity to dream of a future for the Hub and Nassau County in general was taken captive by politics.”
Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano released a statement shortly after news of the team’s move broke, announcing plans to form an economic development team that would examine options for the Hub’s development.
“The Nassau County Hub is home to the most promising job-creating opportunities in the nation,” Mangano said in the statement. “It is my intention to ensure that the taxpayers of Nassau County benefit from the economic redevelopment of 77 acres of land that sit within the most dynamic county in the nation.”
Two potential plans to revamp the Coliseum and its surrounding properties have faltered in recent years.
The Lighthouse project, Wang’s $3.8 billion development proposal that included a revamp of the Coliseum, the building of a minor league baseball park and residential development, languished for years before dying in the face of opposition from the Town of Hempstead’s zoning board. Nassau voters then roundly defeated Mangano’s proposal for a $400 million bond to rebuild the arena in a summer 2011 referendum.
Now the Islanders are Brooklyn-bound, leaving Hempstead for the cachet of developer Bruce Ratner’s and Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov’s newly minted Barclays Center.
According to Wink, there was little opportunity for compromise or discussion on the bond plan, which would have entitled the county to a percentage of the arena’s revenues but was voted down by a 14-point margin.
Wink said the Lighthouse project was a missed opportunity and cast doubts on the survival of the Coliseum.
“We went from having the potential for private investment to the alternative of having to spend $400 million in taxpayer money,” he said. “Going forward I have to say that I don’t see much reason for rebuilding an 18,000-seat arena in an area that doesn’t have a major sports franchise or top concert draw.”
Wink said he was willing to work with whatever plan Mangano proposed, a sentiment emphasized by 10th District Legislator Judi Bosworth (D-Great Neck).
“[The Islanders’ departure] is not a good development for the economy and the vibrancy of Nassau County,” said Bosworth. “At this point, all the stakeholders need to come together and develop a new vision for the area, which has such a major potential… I hope [Mangano’s plan] is a success.”
Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos (R-Great Nec) said the Islanders’ move was regrettable but the Coliseum could still be economically viable.
“Charles Wang’s decision to move the Islanders to Brooklyn is very disappointing to me, as a hockey fan, and for the thousands of residents who enjoyed having a professional team in Nassau County. The county’s focus must now be on redeveloping the Nassau Hub in order to continue providing families on Long Island with a great entertainment destination. For too long, the Veterans Coliseum has languished and Nassau County has not realized its full potential,” Maragos said in a statement.
“The Islanders leaving is a direct result of past failures to build a state-of-the-art sports and entertainment center,” he added. “The economic impact to Nassau County, however, will be marginal if the proper steps are taken to ensure the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum seats are filled in 2015 as they were during the 2004 NHL lockout and during the current NHL lockout. In 2004 the Islander games were replaced with concerts and other events without economic loss to the county.”
Democratic Leader Kevan Abrahams, warned of more dramatic consequences if the county failed to redevelop the Hub.
“This is a sad day for Nassau County and unfortunately another crippling hit to our local economy. To lose the Islanders, Nassau’s only professional sports franchise, is an epic failure of leadership at all levels,” Abrahams said in statement. “We must immediately start working on new ideas for the Hub so that the Coliseum does not sit as a crumbling eyesore for generations.”
