Wang certainly did put his money where his mouth was. Not only seeking to develop a brand new Arena, but also adjacent to the new arena the largest state of the art Athletic Center on the East Coast. Floors filled with Physical Therapists, specialists, this could have been a miraculous gift to the struggling college graduates (Who have Physical /medicine Therapy as a focus) who need jobs and Can't find any. The organizations would have needed managers.
With fellow Nassau County neighbors I sat in the hearing and I listened to That lying Kate Murray Demonize The Proposal's Integrity, because even though unsightly smokestacks that fart smoke into the skies are twice as tall as his proposed office buildings with a connecting bridge. The office buildings were designed by highly professional architects to breath aesthetics into the sight with smooth glass lines, Completely different from the smoke stacks Kate Murray continued to equate to Charles Wang's multi million dollar building.
She stubbornly resisted the gift of investment into this county, & I can't forgive her for that.
If the Coliseum isn't rebuilt/renovated, it's not just a loss to Islanders Fans, but it's a loss to those who have received quality entertainment from that site, & want to continue seeing entertainment.
Once Mangano was voted in, and Murray had this Mangano contingent she dissolved the Wang offer to invest Billions into a hub.
The core of sustaining Nassau should be fixing sewage, anyways.

I agree with you 100% Norm. I have lived in Nassau County since I was born..I watched that Coliseum being built..watched the Islanders win 3 Stanley cups in a row..and watched some of the best musical performances that money can buy. If renovation & repair is not made to that building, there will be no Islanders there, there will be no musical acts, no other shows, & that building will just sit & rot away!

Lloyd can you please tell us how Wang and Milbury are crooked and selfish when it comes to the Islanders? Also what was wang guilty of with CA? I will give you the ineptness of Milbury hands down one of if not the worst move by Wang ever. Wang has continually supported this team finincially trying to sign players and losing money every year. It has been well documented that players do not want to come here and play in the NVMC. In fact it was voted as the worst arena in hockey by the players. Something needs to be done or there will be no Islanders here on LI and we will all pay more taxes to watch the 77 acres turn into a weed infested area.

Agreed!

Dan

The question is, Is Mangano a crime prevention specialist ? Does he have ample experience directing a Police Department in reducing crime ? Chances are the answer is NO. So his decision is not based on keeping you and me safe because he doesn't have any experience to do so. His new Police Commissioner is someone he hired, do you think he is going to speak up about this, and endanger his paycheck. So what do we have here is a Political solution to a crime problem. Do you have any faith that that is what we need to reduce crime. Not me. You may not be aware that since 9/11 Federal Law Enforcement has concentrated the majority of it's resources in Counterterrorism. Greatly reducing it's work in gangs and violent crimes, pushing back this work onto the local PD. Your local PD is trying to do more without Federal support. So does any reduction make any sense.

Dan, with all due respect I am in total disagreement with you. And enough with the highly paid cops. As far as I am concerned there is no such thing as a highly paid cop, but there are thousands of cops who aren't paid enough. I don't know when you retired but all of this world got alot more dangerous since 9/11. I don't know of any city precinct with just two cops on duty on the midnight. I realize you are willing to take a chance with the citizens of Nassau County's safety, I am not. I do agree there is alot of waste in Government but the sfety of our citizens must be the #1 priority. You know there are alot of radicals who over the years has called the NYPD as an occupying army, I guess you agree with that. By the way, I was only a first generation cop who was a little higher rank than you. I was a crime fighting cop for 90 percent of my career retiring from the SCU where I worked with the best and most courageous cops I have ever known. No disrespect intended for ESU cops.

To Eddie:
There are a lot of stories in this column.
Which one are you referring to?

Your taxes are going to be just as high, but now we lose the service... Our property value will be the 1st to feel this mistake.

Excellent post, NC is becoming an easy playground for gangs and criminals.

They are not CEOs. This is not a PRIVATE industry! This is public service. It isn't about what the cops want, it's about serving Nassau County Residents! The residents of Nassau would not have a leg to stand on if a CEO wanted to move a private business, it doesn't impact the our services as taxpayers. You can not compare the two. Maybe that's the problem! CEOs care about their company and ONLY their company. The publics interest is not considered in private industry.

hey dan...i invite you to sit through a midnight in the 5th pct. or the 1st pct. etc... and then report back on how not busy they are...just because you don't go doesn't mean people aren't in and out all night...also dealing with all kinds of calls and helping the officers on duty with arrests etc....go have a look...isn't it obvious why mangano is doing this given the state of affairs with the police....it's because he can't get his way with the contracts etc....so he's gonna try another way to mess with police....this wasn't a revelation to help police and citizens....wake up dan and be a brother in blue....i know it's hard for city cops to do being they can get so jealous etc....but try

2 cops inside the stationhouse....how many do we need LOL.... I got a gun a radio and big stick....where are their stationhouses Iraq ?

To Harvey:
Do I know you?

What NYPD pct has 2 cops inside? You were never a cop, this is obvious. Nice try. Even the slowest NYPD pcts have a minimum of 4-5 cops inside at anytime. On a side note, when a pct gets too busy the city divided the area and formed another pct. an example is when the 79-81 pcts were formed or when the 77 pct was too busy, the 78 gained area to patrol. How about when they formed the housing police? They put the pcts in the busiest projects they could find. Nassau is getting busier and consolidating its areas. This is a major no no as far as Police science is concerned.

Why is a comparison being made between the NYPD & the NCPD?? There are still many more precincts in the NYPD then in Nassau County. No one is asking for a cop on every block...all we are asking for is to keep the 4 precincts that are destined to become "community policing centers" as police fully functioning precincts. If Nassau County needs to save money, how about cutting the salaries & pension plans of the people like Mangano who come up with these ludicrous ideas! And how about hiring back some of the civil service employees that were put out of work & have them make collection calls to the deadbeats that don't pay their tickets!!! The bottom line is that if the 4 police precincts aren't there anymore, Nassau County will become an unsafe place to live...see what that does to your property values!

Rob. yes most of the tax goes to school. Every of goverment whether the cops, schools, water districts are subject to review . I am not blaming the cops, the teachers, or anyone for this mess. it was a long time in the making .

Lloyd
Big Islander fan here, but with the choice of either spending 500 on an oil bill or supporting a rich millionare, I'll spend it on my oil bill. Wang would make more friends if just built a new arena on the same grounds as NC. He would get much more support, instead of wanting a huge complex, which would be nice but in today's world not practical.

I dont think that the Islanders arent important but the police precinct situation is a little more pressing to most.
Also-Simba Wang cannot build a new arena because the county will not sell him the land! they wanted him to pay for the building then NOT own it. The coliseum is a big mess having nothing to do with the ISlanders or Wang. In reality its about the two political parties not agreeing.

RIght to build but not own is a normal tactic of the gov't. THere is usually a transfer of 20 years occupation rights for the building being built. it is common practice. Wang was allowed to rebuild the Colosseum but he refused unless he could build the rest of the Real Estate to make 10x his investment. Once the Lighthouse Project was off the table he started this "the public needs to pay for a new Colosseum or we leave". Well Wang can't move the Islanders without consent from the NHL but he may be able to be forced to sell by the NHL. Wang is refusing to make necessary repairs to the NC unless the County reimburses him but he wants the county reimburse him for cosmetic changes as well.

To Lloyd:
Dumb idea. I like the Mara family........

Kate Murray was only willing to approve a new coliseum and Wang wanted to build Wang Town. Kate refused to negotiate Wang Town without Wang putting money in to pay for the infastructure changes required by Wang Town. Wang refused to put money in for infastructure changes and Kate Murray refused to negotiate further.

THe new group as far as I know just wants to put up a new coliseum.

James-simple facts:

Wang wanted to sit down with Ms. Murray to negotiate a solution. Wheher they would have came away with an agreement or not, we will never know. Maybe, or maybe not, as you seem to think. If Wang would not budge, then you would be correct. We will never know. Ms. Murray REFUSED to sit down & negotiate, claiming "conflict of interest". This despite the fact that Wang\Rechler had won development rights in a public bid. Now another group wants to bid on the rights and she is willing to sit down with them?

Here are Murray's Responses to the lighthouse project

http://www.lettherebelighthouse.com/2010/07/kate-murrays-lighthouse-scale-down.html
http://www.longislandpress.com/2010/06/28/prospects-flicker-for-lighthouse-project/
http://www.liherald.com/stories/Zoning-move-cuts-Lighthouse-in-half,26353
http://www.longislandpress.com/2011/07/28/ed-mangano-charles-wang-plan-to-rebuild-nassau-coliseum/

Each of these refute your assessments of the situation. If Wang had agreed to the scaled down version we wouldn't have this discussion but Wang wanted to make BILLIONS off this deal instead of Millions. The Town would have been more Republican under Wang's proposal since many of the residents would be middle and upper class people.

James Marshall did you read the article? The article comments that the scaled down plan is bad for the owner and bad for the county...a second rate development. This was all public knowledge years ago so what point are you trying to prove? Kate wanted to have it her way. remember at this point in time the county exec was a democrat. Funny how Kate backed the vote of our money when backed by republicans but didnt back the project when funded with private money. Please tell us how the article refutes anything?

What's the point Mac you aren't going to listen. You read half of one article and discarded the rest as irrelevant because it didn't match your point of view.

James, you keep missing the point:
Ms. Murray REFUSED to SIT DOWN with the Wang group to try to negotiate an agreement. Here you had a group that won a public RFP to develop. They were ready to spend a fortune to develop the area. All they asked for was to be able to make back their investment and yes, make some profit. Do we not all expect that when we invest in something? They scaled down their original proposal and were willing to scale it down some more. Rather than meeting with the Wang Rechler group, Ms. Murray (I did not know that she was a devloper), proposed her own plan on how THEY should spend THEIR money. Again, all he asked was to sit down & negotiate. Again, then and to this day, she refuses to sit down with the people that won the public RFP. If an agreement cannot be worked out in a negotation, then we can decide who is not being reasonable. Until then we are at a very typical, Nassau County political stalemate.

I trust Wang more than Town of Hempstead or Nassau officials.

To Lloyd:
MSG is a different issue.
You cant just move MSG to another location.......

There is a ton of space to rebuild a new Colisiem in nassau....
Same property different side of the parking lot and we would continue to use the old one until a new one is completed.....

Its that simple.

Yankee, Shea, and Giants did it as well as many others around the country...

LLoyd yes renovate the Coliseum using the same standards that MSG used. remember that the Dolans own MSG and by the way projected costs for the renovation could surpass 850 million when all is said and done. I guess it makes sense for the County to spend that money because the lesser amount was voted down.

Loyd, With all due respect. Looking at The Colliseum and at MSG is like looking at apples and oranges. How could they possibly demolish MSG on top of Penn Station? MSG should have been torn down, but the hindsight doesn't help us any. Now I have been in the basement of the colliseum, but I've never been in any boxseats, vip suites, etc.. I know that for modern events substantial space is needed. For Boat Shows (Which are held in the basement, one entrance and one exit is extremely cramping. People like to paint owners as greedy for wanting to build new arenas for more vip suites as their objective, but that isn't the case. Wang wanted an entire State of the Art facility 3-4 Floors with (I sound like a broken record) specialists, equipment for the Athletes of Long Island, and for the Islanders. The Colliseum was going to be able to hold conventions in the actual arena, not in the tight basement.
So the Dolan's took the rational way out to save himself from hundreds of millions of dollars for insurance policies alone with the risk of holding up the commutes of 1,000,000 commuters in the basement of MSG.
I'm not a millionaire who can afford VIP Suites, I don't care if I'll ever be, but I want to be offered a great diversity of jobs for people with exceptional backgrounds, and Kate Murray's resistance showed her true partisan agenda, and not a pragmatic approach to the graduating generation.

To Norm:
You asked -
How did Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Winnipeg (near future, but in the books), and Brooklyn, yes people NYC politics aside, get new arenas? Without offending people from those fine areas, how can Nassau County allow those areas to surpass us?

The answer is easy.
Economics 101 my friend...
We are smarter and sharper than those that make the decisions out here...

To Lloyd:
If the Islanders stink that's not Wang's fault he is not on skates.
Look at it this way, originally he wanted to take them out of state.
Put Wang and his money aside.
The county holds all the chips for rebuilding the county infrastructure.
They need to find a private partner, (maybe) yes a partner so both can profit the company and the county....

LLoyd I cant totally blame Wang. Yes he did hire Milbury and stuck with him and that is where he went wrong. Wang is fighting an uphill battle because players DO NOT want to come here to play. They offered more money to several free agents over the pastthree years and they all said no and signed for less somewhere else. The NVNC was voted the worst arena in hockey by the payers and they took into consideration building, ice surface, locker rooms etc.. Has Wang made poor decisions YES but he continually dumps his own money in the team operating at a loss. I still feel the biggest mistake was getting rid of Laviolette. Also, the bickering between politicians do not make it easy for Wang or any of us.

Ok LLoyd you need to do your homework before you respond. MSG is technically older then the Colisuem but it has been renovoted many times in the last 30 years including the current 850million dollar renovation which is more than the estimated cost for a new coliseum. The Rangers are regardless of record a premier team in the NHL one of the originals. Everyobody wants to play in NY and make the big bucks. Fenway Park is also very interesting and has gone through many renovations in its lifetime including the seats on the green monster. Have you ever been to Fenway? The place is history. You cannot compare any building in any sport with the exception of maybe Wrigley to fenway. Here is your final answer that you need to think about. Who owns MSG ...the Dolans. Who owns Fenway?...John Henry, Larry Luchino and Tom Werner who also own the Red Sox. the owners of the club own the building and get a piece of everything associated such as food, parking, concerts and other events held there. I am not naive to think the coliseum is the only reason players dont come here but it is a large part of the reason. Let Wang build it AND own it then collect parking and vending then you may see a difference. You look at most successful franchises and you will see the owners own the building or have other means in place to make additional money from the building. That is a problem Nassau County doesnt want Wang to own it but build it for them THEN rent it from them.

Lloyd,

WAY before Wang bought the team, the Islanders were winners. Do you remember Spano, Gluckstern\Millstein? As bad as they look this year, they were much worse back then. How quickly we forget. And yes, no one wanted to be on the team then. Remember Kirk Mueller, hell even Steve Yzerman when there were rumors he could be traded for LaFontaine. He squabbled like a baby.Not like Wang took over the team in 1983.
And you cannot compare Baseball Economics to Hockey's. Totally different. The Sox get a huge chunk from NESN, corporate boxes, team merchandise etc...And yes, the fan base for the Red Sox is and always will be much more supportive than LI will ever be for hockey.

It is good you have no issue with the colisuem. Where you at the game where they had to move fans in the upper sections because of the roof leaking? Where your seats in good condition or did you sit in one of the bent seats or ones without arms? Billy Joel stated he would never play the coliseum again because it is subpar for performances and he is not the only performer to say so. Unfortunately it isnt about the consumer always but the acts and events who choose not to come there because of the building. It needs to be replaced or a major renovation at the very minimum. It is part of the reason players do not come. I hate to tell you but Wang is a sports owner. What exactly do you mean sports owner anyway? Arent they all businessman to start with. Was marc Cuban a business man, Steinbrenner etc... all of these guys are billiomnaire business owners who own sports teams.

Maybe it doesn't. So I guess the desks of Nassau County will be quaking in their boots. Frankly, it sound like we have WAY too many police inside when we need them outside. Lots of police sitting at desks doesn't really give me the warm and fuzzzies that we're all safe.

oooo interested bystander....1st they complain too many respond to bullcrap calls now they complain too many inside.....blah blah blah....go sit inside a pct. all night...see what they do before you judge....don't take this political crap out on the police...they are the ones risking their lives every single day...they work around they clock...they don't have weekends off...they don't have holidays off....etc....

i agree about the police thing paul....people should know before they write....the pcts. are often busier then the police in the cars....

dan you are so ignorant.....it that what you think the police do inside? i have a loved one inside running the pct. on the midnight shift....the work it takes to run the pct. is a tremendous resposibility....they keep track of every officer in the pct. and every call they are on...the paperwork in insurmountable...and it's their head if things go wrong..they are directing who goes where...if there are guns found at the scene they are doing all the processing etc...etc...etc....again i invite you to go down and see for yourself.....

Llyod are you going to keep trying to find more comparisons that arent valid? Where is the billion dollar arena? It isnt Citifield that came it at a cost of 600million which was less than the actual estimate. It was about the only thing the Mets did right. So what billion dollar stadium are you referring too? Please I beg of you stop throwing out numbers before you speak. Where is the EASY comparison between Wilpon and Wang? The Mets are suffering because they do not have money to put back into the club because of Madoff. I will give you Minaya and Milbury but thats it. AND you are right if the team wins people show up. BUT, even if the Coliseum is a sell out each game Wang operates at even moneyand you can look it up as true. It is the worst lease in professional sports. Who did the Islanders let walk away? Can you name the really good ones that got away? and please dont say Chara or Luongo they both stunk when they were here. The Isles actually have a good AHL team. As far as Billy Joel you really missed the point. Billy was quoted as daying how much he loved playin here and how the Coliseum was like home. If a LI native like Billy Joel will not play here who will?? It no longer attracts the big acts on a regular basis. The equally old and outdated Billy Joel would sell out any and every show he played at the colisuem. Doo a little research because your ignorance is showing.

What I find laughable are your examples without a shred of backup. To think the local politicians have nothing to do with renovating or replacing a county owned building that has the ability to generate money is once again ignorant. Running a franchise into the ground and county owned property managment are two different items. Kate and Ed have nothing to do with the Islanders performance and that cannot be disputed. However Kate , Ed and the rest of the local politicians have everything to do with why the county cannot move forward on the property. A new owner in the same bad building with the same bad lease will not flourish.

Lloyd if it isnt about the 15k islander fans can you please enlighten us to why the people of Nassau County hate Charles Wang? Can you please tell us how Charles Wang ruined the actual building? Can you please give us examples of how he is a horrible owner? Can you tell us how much he losses every year? How much he puts back into the team every year? how much he pays for repairs the building? Also tell us what political party sided with Wang durign the lighthouse then what party during the August vote? Once again you rognorance is showing if you truly beilieve the politicians have nothing to do with this. When the Islanders leave and the coliseum shutters its doors who will you blame then?

I would venture to say that if the most popular person in the world (PIck anyone), bought the Islanders tomorrow, The voters would overwhelmingly reject any plan to build a new coliseum at public expense. That is why we needed to pursue doing it at Private expense. In order to do that, any investor, has to see a profit at the end of his investment. Capitalism 101.

Lloyd, I agree. Wang made this about him. THe public spoke and said the deal as proposed wasn't sufficient for the public to buy in. If another owner bought the islanders and said he would definitely keep the islanders here and not try to strong arm the public by threatening them with removing the team I think Nassau may be a bit more willing to accept it.

There is no way Nassau voters would build a new arena with Public money, no matter who owns the team or how well they are doing. Did you see how lopsided the vote was? Not even close. Exit polls-resounding consensous was-not a penny more for my taxes. Face it, Nassau voters are not "savy" at all, most hardly knew any of the issues involved, all they were worried about was their taxes. The vast majority of times in the US, voters will always vote down almost ANYTHING that will raise their taxes. That is election fact. That is why the only way to build a new arena was with private money. It will never pass any public vote, no matter what.

Very true Paul. A state of the art facility wil attract much more.

LLoyd once again a comparison made in ignorance. Why did the Devils LEAVE their former arena in fact why are the Nets leaving that same arena? Could it be similar to the coliseum situation? You may want to look it up. The Devils didnt make the playoffs last year so your "every year" comment is as valid as your billion dollar stadium comment. The Devils are on the same plan for a network as the Islanders in case you didnt know. they all fall under that MSG umbrella for broadcasting. Let's see if the Devils sign PArise? It was last year that one of the Devils owners filed for bancruptcy and is still trying to sell his half of the team because they arent making money. Good coaches? How long till Lemaire is back this year? They have about 5 coaches in the last 5 years. The Devils ARE not financially solvent and you can look it up. They are barely hanging on. the new stadium is in debt and still hasnt turned a profit because Newark itself is less than a desirable place to be. Lou is the best GM in sports but having brodeur doesnt hurt. How has Wang been dishonest with this team? AND once again this is about the building. regardless of who owns it the place needs to be renovated or a new one in its place. You continue to give horrible examples that can easily be refuted by a quick google search.

If the Islanders were winning cups right now & filling the building every night and if they were owned by the most popular person in the world, I firmly believe Nassau taxpayers still would handily vote down a publically financed arena. That is why it needed to be done with private funds. The only way private funds would work is for a private investor to be able to make back their investment.That's how capitalism works.No one would be interested in building an arena on that land without other immenities to make back their investment. THAT is where Kate was at fault. Instead of meeting with Wang & trying to work out a scaled down Lighthouse, she refused, claiming "conflict of interest". Again, if she met with him and a reasonable solution could not be worked out, then we could decide who was holding up a solution. Since she would not negotiate, the main obsticle to a solution was the TOH. In fairness, the county was fine with the Lighthouse, under both the Suozzi and Mangano administrations.

Actually I have read your posts. From what I've read I think you have some vested interest here. I've lived in Nassau County for more than 25 years. I've never stepped into a precinct in all that time. From what I am reading here, the reasons to keep all 8 precincts open given the economic reality are not compelling. Again, by way of example, if at 3 am someone needs to report a rape or domestic incident - isn't it wiser to call 911? "Insurmountable paperwork" - as a taxpayer do I think we need to pay a Nassau cop $200k all in to complete "insurmountable paperwork." No I do not. With technology and less expensive civilians I think we could and should streamline the paperwork. Make it surmountable. As I've said, I have never even stepped into a precinct. Someone educate me as to what exactly the police officers in that building do over a 12 hour shift that warrants keeping all 8 precincts open. Just saying "god help Nassau's crime rate" doesn't persuade. Facts persuade.

Here is Marty's rookie year "Brodeur gained recognition when he won the Calder Trophy, an annual award for the best rookie in the NHL, after leading the Devils to the second best record in the league and the Eastern Conference Finals". I guess that trumps Luongo. Luongo didnt actually become a top tier goalie until he was ready to leave Florida and look at the long deal he has now. Chara also went on to Ottawo before he became what he is today. DP was the only name player the Isles had at the time. Has he stayed healthy that contract would look like a bargain today. Go do your research about the "the rock" and get back to us. The new building did not equal cups. Also Newark didnt back the plan. the Giv at the time Whitman pushed for it as a way to revitalize Newark and it is still not quite there. Then you say NJ backed them. How so? Are the Devils at the top regarding attendance/ You may want to look that up also. Actually NY state backed the Sabres and gave them loans and bonds for their new stadium yet afforded nothing here when asked. Why doesnt Wang deserve anything? Please tell me one thing he has ever done to hurt a NC or TOH taxpayer? You think he is the only billionaire businessman who bought a sports franchise that had some shady business dealings? Come on your ignorance is showing again. I beg of you research before you post.

Actually the entire NHL laughed when they signed Dipietro to a 15 year contract.

Here are the reported injuries during his NHL career before the contract was signed.
Oct. 14, 2005: Mild concussion vs. Philadelphia, missed one game.
Oct. 29, 2005: Sprained knee vs. Buffalo, missed one game.
Dec. 30, 2005: Mild knee sprain vs. Ottawa.

James 3 injuries over a span of 110 games started is bad? Remember also that the year he signed those next three years he started 188 games with a GAA under 3.00. His contract actually started the trend of all tghese long signings we see today.
Lloyd people care about all those things just not enough people. thsi isnt about th eIslanders but the building. Instead of that building generating money for NC it instead costs us money. Wait till the shows leave and people have to travel int the garden for everything but second rate concerts at the beach or in westbury. Wang isnt strong arming anyone just spelling out what will happen. No good businessman will ever buy the Islanders with the existing building, lease especially when the vending and parking is not making him any money. Lloyd you obviously hate Wang and see nothing wrong with the way the politicians handled this parcel. This should have been resolved a long time ago. watch your taxes go up when the coliseum shutters its doors.

This is the Comptroller report. It actually says the County would be fine without the Islanders (page 9 of 16).

http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/Comptroller/NewsRelease/2011/documents/NVMC-Review_of_Proposed_Redevelopment_FINAL.pdf

James,

Easy to say "entire league laughed when Isles signed DP". Who exactly laughed?
Name someone specifically? All gossip. 2 Minor sprains and 1 concussion do not constitute an injury risk, sorry. It happened, but again, he drove a hard bargain and if he turned out even somewhat better than average & walked, you guys would be crucifying Wang for that. He put his money where his mouth was. Some contracts work out, others don't, that is sports. Steinbrenner had plenty of overspent\bad contracts too. Sather was ripped off by Gomez, Drury & Redden. He was very lucky to get 2 of them off his books. If he didn't Gaborik & Richards would not be Rangers today. Now, everyone praises the job Sather did. The DP contract is not holding the Isles back, they just have to move on without counting on him for anything.

Yeah just do a google search and you'll find the laughter from 2006 to today regarding this contract. Who cares what the Rangers or Yankees did? They are not asking Nassau County for a new arena. I never said it was holding the Islanders back just an example of the mismanagement of the Islanders under Wang. He even fired Neil Smith who constructed the 1994 Rangers after a month. Why because he wouldn't do this contract? If that is the case, Neil Smith is a genius.

James pleae look up your facts! If DP was signed to a 15 year contract on Sept 15 2006 and Neil Smith was hired on June 8 2006 then left within a month how did the DP signing impact it. From what I remember and looked up it was a dispute that trickled down management and how they were going to run the team. The decisions were being spread out to include to many people. It was at that time Pat Lafontaine also stepped down. Then please find me ANY owner or GM who always made the right choice and NEVER had a big signing go bad. It is the rick you take.

Neil Smith was fired and not a month later Snow is the GM and signing DP to a 15 yr contract. It's pretty obvious there is some connection between the two. Pat also got out of there when he saw what was happening. Wang himself pushed for this deal.

"You have to have a commitment to who you're working with," said Wang, who made billions as a software developer.

"I've done this all my business career. Now I'm doing it in sports and everybody is like, 'Oh my God. How could he do that?'"

He's right; pretty much everybody is like that. The Globe and Mail headline the next morning accused Wang of "Long Island Lunacy," while one unnamed NHL executive called the Islanders' owner "insane."

Readers canvassed by CBC.ca almost universally said "what the…?" when asked their opinion on the deal.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/columns/newsmakers/charles-wang.html

Again I feel the NO vote was based solely on Wang and not on the Coliseum or the Islanders.

Can you give us a list of these all star players the Islanders let go?

Google search on several occasions states "after 2 succesful years, Dipietro was given a 15 yr. contract". Now, we can both disagree with that statement, but this was the perception of many at the time. All the negative statements about the contract seem to be from 2009 forward, not from 2006, when the contract was signed.
Now, those type of long term deals are more & more prevelant.
By that point in time, the injuries had become a major issue.
And the Ranger & Yankee comparision is this:
-When they have many bad signings, it is still perceived as ok, because you still can be succesful despite these contracts
-When Wang has 1 bad contract (really 2, with Yashin, in fairness), everyone jumps all over it.
And, if the contract "is not holding the team back", as you state, then what is your point? He gave away 1 bad contract, we all agree to that. It has not prevented the team from success. We agree to that.

Bad signing do not hold a team back. I agree. My point is and was that Nassau is not going to support Wang because

A. He threatened to pull the team if he doesn't get his way. This is NY we don't deal well with threats of any kind. We would gladly shoot ourselves in the foot so Wang loses.

B. In a Recession, no one likes a Billionaire asking for a handout from the public. If the Islanders had asked for the handout again Nassau residents may have complied but Wang and Mangano asking for it after the Lighthouse Project was killed left a bad taste in everyone's mouth.

C. There were no contracts settled before the vote. Everything was still "yeah Wang said they are going to do this and this. The details will be worked out after the vote". Do you buy a car without knowing how much it'll cost? Do you hand a contractor $40K and tell him to build an addition without a contract or defined details? NO.

Don't blame anyone but Murray, Mangano and Wang for the fall of the Coliseum because all roads lead to their decisions.

James: Wang didnt threaten to leave if he didnt get his way. he made a statement saying this is no longer a viable arena for his club and his investment which he has every right to do. Thsi has nothign to do with getting his way but the reality of continuing to lose money EVERY year. B: WANG did NOT ask for a handout. this is a common misconception. Wang was prepared to pay for thsi privately and it was denied. This was the county they refuse to sell the property and want to control what goes their. If the county offered to sell the land and arena then Wang griped so be it. He tried to buy it they said NO. C; thos e contracts should have been completed for all to see. But once again this falls on the county. How did the COUNTY have the nerve to ask us to vote on something that wasnt complete. It shouldve been up to the county to see it to its completion before a vote. Instead we got a very underhanded shady election in August.
Wang did nothing wrong. he is trying to make more money. isnt this what a successful businessman does. The county shouldve worked with him to get this doen instead of asking us. remember the "handout" would not have lead to Wang owning the building or the property. he still would have been the tenant paying rent every month.

Unless there is some kind of Republican uprising in the Legislature they are going to pass the Republican plan.

My Swami prediction is 11-8 in favor of the restructuring

Of course. Do you want a politician to torpedo his reelection campaign by being honest?

Mac is exactly correct. Without a main tenant and 4 other major indoor arenas in the area, the Coliseum would quickly deteriorate and close. To suggest otherwise, is contrary to any other arena situation in the country. In KC, that is the only arena within many miles. Here, there will be 4 other major arenas for any act to choose from.

Here's the exact quote

"It should also be noted that in 2004/05, when no Islanders games were played because of the NHL lockout, the County’s total SMG revenues did not decline significantly. This would seem to indicate that the County is able to book other events in the absence of the Islanders and thereby retain the revenue."

I agree they have to keep it open, but instead of trying to build the next wonder of the world they should just build a new stadium and conference center like Indianapolis. One of the main reasons the Lighthouse project was killed was all the additional things Wang wanted to do. The Vote died because of Wang and not because of the Islanders.

James once again that four letter word is "seem". How are they going to make up the 760k per year from Islander tickets alone. The money they get from SMG is very deceptive because most come from Islander games. What vote are you referring too? the August vote? Kate Murray opposed the Lighthouse because she is a republican and the democrats lead by Suozzi supported it. The same Republican Kate Murray supported the vote we had in August for the new arena while the democrats were opposed. You dont think this had anythng to do with it?

Accountants try not to use absolutes for future considerations. I agree Murray's denial and support seems more tied to politics than changes to the plan. I am just aware from many of those that voted that it seemed like more of a referendum on Wang's management of the Islanders than about the Coliseum. I think if another company is put forth to manage and build on the property the same vote might have been a yes.

MAc My point which you keep glossing over is that it is about Wang. IF there is another group willing to develop the arena and everyone is willing to work with the new group you can claim politics (though Wang lost with a Democrat and Republican in charge) or you can easily say TOH and Nassau doesn't want to work with Wang in regards to the Coliseum.

I think Nassau residents are savvy enough to not trust Wang without a contract in place hence they voted no. Wang cannot move the Islanders without consent from the NHL and may be forced to sell. It has happened before and can and will happen again.

Being called insane is always a bad thing but those that make a success are considered geniuses and those that don't (Wang) are considered well insane. So far Wang has not proven any of his critics wrong.

THis is from NYTimes
"The conflict with Smith involved the lack of a traditional general manager’s role, Wang told reporters yesterday at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y. He was referring to his unconventional view that his team’s front office would be run by committee.

That was a philosophy that Smith ultimately could not work under."

Bottom Line the Lighthouse Project and the referendum vote were about Wang. Maybe with a new development group it will be about the building. THe Islanders will probably stay at the Coliseum whether it is under Wang or a new owner remains to be seen.

No I don't think Smith knew what he was getting into and neither did Pat LaFontaine hence why they were fired and/or quit in such a short period of time. I've never actually seen the books of the Islanders and I know the NHL plays accounting games with TV rights and the concessions so I could not say for sure he is losing money and no one could. Wang has never opened his books to the public so all we have to go by are politicians and PR reports which are as useless as the paper they are printed on. If the Islanders were in the playoffs every year, Wang would be making money but the team that is on the ice is incapable of winning more than 50% of their games and a lot of that is due to Wang's Management and a history of bad management of the Islanders. I won't go into the numerous instances of bad management of the team. There are websites dedicated to just that. Mac you are too quick to blame everyone else from the voters to the politicians when the factor common to all of these problems is Wang himself. I agree no buyer is going to buy the team as they are right now in the building they are right now. However I think the new development group which includes Blumenfeld has a much better chance of building something than Wang ever did. Wang should be concerned with putting a competitive product on the ice. He's had 10 years and failed at every step of developing a winning team.

A stubborn, unwillingness to sit down and negotiate. That was the problem. Wang was willing to sit down and negotiate. That is fact. Whether or not he would have budged enough on the Lighthose to satisfy most? We will never know. The county approved the original Lighthouse. Fact. The private development was shot down by the TOH. Fact. Our Town Supervisior refused to sit down with the Wang\Rechler group & negotiate, claiming "conflict of interest" Fact.

My opinion, Wang was too easy not to call the town to task on this. This should have been front & center in the last election that Ms. Murray won by another Landslide. If people realized that the town board was why the process was stopped, perhaps the election might have been much closer. Force her to the negotiating table.

Once agin Lloyd your ignorance shows. The politicians played Wang for their benefit to oppose each other. Suozzi said yes Murray said no then manganous said yes to a much worse deal for the taxpayer and the dema said no. Your common thread is dem vs rep. Wang didn't come up with the entire August fiasco. Some geniuses we voted for thought it was a great idea to scam us. When was the last election Wang called? What is so hard to understand that the county does not want to share that property. They have clearly stated many times they will not sell it or give up any right.. Any owner would be crazy to deal with these guys as the deficit continues to grow. Who are we luring back to the coliseum ? If we built a new arena the isles would stay. A team would never come back here especially after we have shown just how little the isles mean to us.

Ok mr ignorant also known as LLoyd please I beg you loook up your facts. Since 1917 whcih is 95 years there have been 3 teams that have relocated back to a location that once had hockey Ottowa, Colorado and Atlanta then two cities were awarded expansion teams that once had hockey Minny and ATL. You can correct me if I am wrong. So at most 5 teams in 95 years is not a common at all. LI is such a lucrative market that in your own words the coliseum was less than full and the county wouldnt support a new arena. A savy owner wouldnt get involved with this mess until an arena would be built. Wang did nothing wrong in trying to get a new arena and own the land. The politicians should have made a bi-partisan attempt to get this done. But you live in NC that just doesnt happen. Yes there are shows at the coliseum and there will be as long as it is open. Take a look at the percentage of open dates vs teh Rock or in Philly. Really cant compare MSG because they have two pro teams. Then last night I was at the game and yes it wsnt full but it was a good sized crowd. MTL always brings fans. Then I guess a 4-2 game with an empty net goal by MTL was a blowout where the shots on goal where in the Isles favor. It was actually a very good game the Rangers are consistent sell outs in Manhattan the most famous arena in sports. Ranger fans support their team as does the city. People who live in the county do not.