Nassau County has agreed to let the new leaseholder of Nassau Coliseum "off the hook from paying rent until at least the summer" in a deal that also "guarantees that the Islanders can use the arena if needed during the COVID-19 shutdown," according to Baumbach & Ferrette of NEWSDAY. The lease amendment "calls for rent relief that continues until six months after the state lifts all restrictions on arena events." Under the current lease, Nassau County collects more than $4M in "annual rent" from the Coliseum leaseholder. But the new leaseholder, Nassau Live Center LLC, headed by Nick Mastroianni II, has "not paid rent since taking over in August" after former leaseholder Mikhail Prokhorov "shuttered the building and walked away" from $100M in debt. Mastroianni was "next in line to take control of the lease" because he had "orchestrated the loan for the Coliseum’s 2015 renovation." The county is giving Mastroianni until "six months after the state lifts restrictions on arena events to submit his plan for the Coliseum's future," a deadline that was extended from last Wednesday. Nassau officials said that this will "allow him to better evaluate the impact UBS Arena will have on the Coliseum." Among the proposals pitched to Mastroianni was to "downsize the arena into a 5,000-seat music venue that would be operated" by Oak View Group (NEWSDAY, 11/21).
