Post by JETStender on May 24, 2009 0:27:51 GMT -5
www.islanderspointblank.com/2009/05/lighthouse/
Barring a dramatic turn of events, Charles Wang’s October 3 deadline for approvals on the Lighthouse Project is almost certain to come and go with little action from the Town of Hempstead. And when it does, the Islanders owner will have no other choice but to open conversations with other municipalities interested in Long Island’s National Hockey League franchise.
Community leaders in Queens, start preparing your pitches. Bruce Ratner and the people of Brooklyn, if you want an NHL team to join the Nets, the Islanders are mostly-unrestricted free agents in just over four months. If you have a plan and land in Suffolk, County Executive Steve Levy, here’s a chance to maintain the heritage of the Island’s only major professional franchise.
Kansas City, Mr. Balsillie - opportunity knocks.
And if you have a few hundred million to spare and want to commit to keeping the Islanders in Nassau County under this lease and without a development deal, here’s a chance to get yourself on the front page of Newsday. Declare that you have real money and a sincere desire to want to save the Islanders.
*
On January 23, Charles Wang visited the offices of Kate Murray, the Town of Hempstead Supervisor. The rhetoric was starting to get a little nasty behind the scenes, in the media and on the blogs. Wang sat down with Murray and called for a spirit of bi-partisan cooperation. The Islanders owner urged Murray to make time for meetings “so we can talk about process.” The developers of the Lighthouse Project came away more encouraged than they had in a long time.
That was four months ago. Wang has not heard from Murray since.
(Murray did not even make it to her own Town Hall)
The Town Supervisor has skipped all meetings related to the development of the Coliseum property, including a recent summit with union leaders she had committed to. Seven planned meetings, no Murray. No discussion of process. Aren’t elected officials supposed to lead?
In mid-April, the project developers were confident they had addressed all issues in the Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (DGEIS). Their feelings were confirmed in a positive letter from Town attorney Joseph Ra. Suddenly on April 24, after a 45-day deadline for revisions had passed, the Lighthouse Development Corporation was contacted by the Town’s planning consultant. A whole new list of issues to address was presented by F.P. Clark & Associates. The letter arrived late on a Friday night.
When one business wants to send another business a chilling message that there will be no spirit of cooperation, they send over work post-deadline on a Friday night.
On May 8, Clark & Associates wrote another letter detailing additional issues with the DGEIS and warning that more letters were coming. There has been no correspondence since.
“The Town wants nothing to do with this,” one major player told Point Blank. “They wish it would all go away so they can go back to whatever it is they do over there. It’s sad.”
*
And so it goes with the Town of Hempstead and the Lighthouse Project, the development of Tom Suozzi’s HUB that Nassau County has tried for decades to get off the ground. So it goes for the revitalization of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, as set forth by a Request For Proposals by Nassau County and approved by a 16-2 margain.
Wang, who is said to be completely satisfied by the stewardship of the proposal by Suozzi and the County, has set a October 3 deadline for Town approvals for obvious reasons. The Islanders lease expires in 2015. A “transformed” Coliseum would take four off-seasons to complete. The math is simple. Wang has to decide if he’s finally done losing at least $20 million a year with no development deal in sight.
There’s an election in November for the Town of Hempstead Supervisor, with Murray’s opponent expected to be named very soon. Even if Murray is defeated - in reality, she enters a heavy favorite - there is no guarantee Lighthouse approvals will be fast-tracked. Like all of us, Wang has been promised plenty by politicians before. As a businessman, he is left with no other options but to explore another site for his team.
*
What should Islanders fans do? Continue to let your community leaders know how important this is to you. Call Kate Murray. Call Hempstead attorney Joe Ra, an Islanders season ticketholder. When election season arrives, let the politicans know how you feel with your vote.
Revel in the drafting of future star goal scorer John Tavares (you deserve the No. 1 pick after enduring last season). Support the franchise in any way you can. If the Islanders are a big part of your life and/or you’re one of the fortunate in New York to have some disposable income, buy a ticket package for the 2009-10 season and even the one after that. The Islanders will play those seasons at the Coliseum, at the very least.
Hope for the best. Hope that the Town of Hempstead wakes up. Hope that Wang, after 9 years of waiting in Nassau, first looks locally for an alternative. It would be consistent with his actions so far.
Barring a dramatic turn of events, Charles Wang’s October 3 deadline for approvals on the Lighthouse Project is almost certain to come and go with little action from the Town of Hempstead. And when it does, the Islanders owner will have no other choice but to open conversations with other municipalities interested in Long Island’s National Hockey League franchise.
Community leaders in Queens, start preparing your pitches. Bruce Ratner and the people of Brooklyn, if you want an NHL team to join the Nets, the Islanders are mostly-unrestricted free agents in just over four months. If you have a plan and land in Suffolk, County Executive Steve Levy, here’s a chance to maintain the heritage of the Island’s only major professional franchise.
Kansas City, Mr. Balsillie - opportunity knocks.
And if you have a few hundred million to spare and want to commit to keeping the Islanders in Nassau County under this lease and without a development deal, here’s a chance to get yourself on the front page of Newsday. Declare that you have real money and a sincere desire to want to save the Islanders.
*
On January 23, Charles Wang visited the offices of Kate Murray, the Town of Hempstead Supervisor. The rhetoric was starting to get a little nasty behind the scenes, in the media and on the blogs. Wang sat down with Murray and called for a spirit of bi-partisan cooperation. The Islanders owner urged Murray to make time for meetings “so we can talk about process.” The developers of the Lighthouse Project came away more encouraged than they had in a long time.
That was four months ago. Wang has not heard from Murray since.
(Murray did not even make it to her own Town Hall)
The Town Supervisor has skipped all meetings related to the development of the Coliseum property, including a recent summit with union leaders she had committed to. Seven planned meetings, no Murray. No discussion of process. Aren’t elected officials supposed to lead?
In mid-April, the project developers were confident they had addressed all issues in the Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (DGEIS). Their feelings were confirmed in a positive letter from Town attorney Joseph Ra. Suddenly on April 24, after a 45-day deadline for revisions had passed, the Lighthouse Development Corporation was contacted by the Town’s planning consultant. A whole new list of issues to address was presented by F.P. Clark & Associates. The letter arrived late on a Friday night.
When one business wants to send another business a chilling message that there will be no spirit of cooperation, they send over work post-deadline on a Friday night.
On May 8, Clark & Associates wrote another letter detailing additional issues with the DGEIS and warning that more letters were coming. There has been no correspondence since.
“The Town wants nothing to do with this,” one major player told Point Blank. “They wish it would all go away so they can go back to whatever it is they do over there. It’s sad.”
*
And so it goes with the Town of Hempstead and the Lighthouse Project, the development of Tom Suozzi’s HUB that Nassau County has tried for decades to get off the ground. So it goes for the revitalization of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, as set forth by a Request For Proposals by Nassau County and approved by a 16-2 margain.
Wang, who is said to be completely satisfied by the stewardship of the proposal by Suozzi and the County, has set a October 3 deadline for Town approvals for obvious reasons. The Islanders lease expires in 2015. A “transformed” Coliseum would take four off-seasons to complete. The math is simple. Wang has to decide if he’s finally done losing at least $20 million a year with no development deal in sight.
There’s an election in November for the Town of Hempstead Supervisor, with Murray’s opponent expected to be named very soon. Even if Murray is defeated - in reality, she enters a heavy favorite - there is no guarantee Lighthouse approvals will be fast-tracked. Like all of us, Wang has been promised plenty by politicians before. As a businessman, he is left with no other options but to explore another site for his team.
*
What should Islanders fans do? Continue to let your community leaders know how important this is to you. Call Kate Murray. Call Hempstead attorney Joe Ra, an Islanders season ticketholder. When election season arrives, let the politicans know how you feel with your vote.
Revel in the drafting of future star goal scorer John Tavares (you deserve the No. 1 pick after enduring last season). Support the franchise in any way you can. If the Islanders are a big part of your life and/or you’re one of the fortunate in New York to have some disposable income, buy a ticket package for the 2009-10 season and even the one after that. The Islanders will play those seasons at the Coliseum, at the very least.
Hope for the best. Hope that the Town of Hempstead wakes up. Hope that Wang, after 9 years of waiting in Nassau, first looks locally for an alternative. It would be consistent with his actions so far.