Lighthouse Hearing Gets Heated; Will Isles Leave Long Island?

Hempstead Town Board Grills Developers About Details Of Lighthouse Project

Hempstead (NY) Town Board members during a hearing on the Islanders' Lighthouse Project "spent hours Tuesday grilling the developers about details of the proposal during a zoning hearing in which the tone veered from cordial to testy," according to Sandra Peddie of NEWSDAY. Islanders Owner Charles Wang and RXR Realty Chair & CEO Scott Rechler -- the project developers -- "appeared frustrated and at times ill-prepared for the questions about traffic, height of buildings and whether the developers would sell off parts of the project." Town board members "repeatedly asked for specific commitments, but the developers declined to make them." Wang and Rechler instead "extolled what they say are the project's virtues -- creating jobs, serving as a magnet for new industry and keeping young people on Long Island." The development would include 42 new buildings in a "mix of residential, office and retail space," and would "more than double the size of Nassau Coliseum to 831,500 square feet." Wang during the hearing said, "I love the Island. ... I want to make sure that what's built is the vision that Scott and I have created and that it gets done." Wang was "greeted with boisterous cheers from union laborers" in the morning session of yesterday's meeting, but by afternoon the "tone had shifted dramatically." Peddie notes an issue "overshadowing the sometimes contentious back-and-forth was Wang's Oct. 3 deadline for 'certainty'" on the project's future. Wang "took pains to say that his deadline was not a 'threat' and he would continue to work with the town," but he "again complained that the board had not moved quickly enough in its review" (NEWSDAY, 9/23). Islanders fans and union workers appeared outside yesterday's hearing wearing T-shirts that read, "Just Zone It" (NEWSDAY, 9/23).

TURN OUT THE LIGHTS? Wang yesterday finished his testimony by telling the board, "This is a defining moment" (NEWSDAY, 9/23). FANHOUSE.com's Chris Botta noted Wang after the hearing said that he has been "committed to keeping the Islanders in Nassau County since he bought the franchise in 2000 and remains so, even after losing" an estimated $20M annually with an "outdated facility and crippling lease." However, Wang noted that his October 3 deadline remains in place. And, with "less than two weeks to go -- and after all the questions and animosity brought by the town board at Tuesday's marathon hearing -- it's impossible to envision Wang getting his answers" (FANHOUSE.com, 9/22).

Crowd Of Only 9,792 Turns Out For Islanders- Kings Exhibition At 18,000-Seat Sprint Center

NOT A SPRINT TO THE FINISH: On Long Island, Katie Strang reports there was "more excitement at the hearing" than at last night's Kings-Islanders exhibition game at K.C.'s Sprint Center, "where a crowd of only 9,792 in the 18,000-seat arena saw the Islanders lose, 4-2." The game had been "regarded as a litmus test for the Islanders' potential hold in the market if the team cannot get an arena built and decides to relocate" (NEWSDAY, 9/23). Also on Long Island, Jim Baumbach notes "every upper-deck section was blocked off by huge black curtains," covering the "many, many rows of empty seats." K.C. residents "missed a real opportunity to send their own message." Islanders top draft pick LW John Tavares did not play in last night's game, and if the Islanders were "serious about drawing a big crowd and sending a message that Kansas City is a legit option, then their biggest draw should have been on the ice" (NEWSDAY, 9/23). AEG President & CEO Tim Leiweke, whose company owns and operates Sprint Center, said that he is "not optimistic about the Islanders making an imminent move to Kansas City, even if Wang does not get the zoning approved, because the Islanders' lease at Nassau Coliseum" extends through 2015. Leiweke said the crowd was "disappointing," and added, "St. Louis needs to be involved in this game. This is their territory, everyone watches their games here, so we had a big drop-off because we didn't have the Blues here" (K.C. STAR, 9/23).