"After nearly two years of false starts and hard
bargaining, the Islanders finally got new owners yesterday"
as New York Sports Ventures (NYSV), a group headed by Steven
Gluckstern and Howard Milstein, closed on a $195M deal to
buy the team from the Pickett family, according to Ken
Moritsugu of NEWSDAY. The sale was consummated when the
buyers prevailed in a "deal-threatening" dispute with PA-
based Spectacor Management Group, which runs Nassau Coliseum
and had to approve the sale. The disagreement was resolved
yesterday after NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman "called the
warring parties into his Manhattan office to broker a
compromise." SMG President Wes Westley said that his
company had dropped its demand for a signed guarantee that
it was not in default of its contractual responsibilities at
the Coliseum "after reaching a handshake agreement with
Milstein that the new owners did not intend to try to force
SMG out." Westley said the groups will work to "address"
the Islanders concerns at the Coliseum and "move forward
towards a new arena." Milstein: "I gave them my personal
assurance we would treat them fairly" (NEWSDAY, 2/26).
