Wang Denies Report That He Has Abandoned Lighthouse Plans

Wang Denies Report That He Is Ending Efforts To Build Lighthouse Project

Islanders Owner Charles Wang this morning "denounced a report" that he is "ending efforts to build the Lighthouse Project," according to Laikin & Marshall of NEWSDAY. Wang said, "There's no truth to the story. It's bogus. There are no plans to abandon the project." Sources also denied that Wang has "reorganized his staff, moving people off the Lighthouse." Wang today reiterated he is waiting for a "yes or no decision" from the Town of Hempstead as to whether the project will go forward, and added he is continuing to "look at all options" regarding the team's future. But he said, "My heart is still on Long Island. ... This is where the Islanders belong" (NEWSDAY.com, 10/15). On Long Island, Michael Martino Jr. in the original report cited a source as saying that the Lighthouse "has already been abandoned internally" by Wang. The source indicated that "reorganization has already begun within Wang's company, reassigning some top-level executives who have been key members of the Lighthouse initiative to work on other unrelated projects." The source said that the "lack of financing for a project of this scale in this economic climate ... may be reason enough for Wang to pull the plug," and speculated that Wang's self-imposed October 3 deadline for approval "may have been a tactic to enable him to gracefully bow out of the controversial project" (LONGISLANDPRESS.com, 10/14).